In dramatic U-turn, Cameron's senior policy advisor backs calls to pull out of Europe

[-:Undertaker:-]

Pros:
-Dan would have to blame someone else for the UK's shortcomings.
-More money for the treasury
Cons:
- Have to abide by EU trade law without having any say in how it's made

We don't have any say at the moment, we have 70 odd members in a Chamber of 600 odd members which makes the smaller laws and is nothing like a parliament as the Commission proposes legislation. The Commission itself and the ECJ are the motor behind integration and the laws, the Commission meets in secret and we can also be outvoted on QMV (Qualified Majority Voting)... the say we have is very little and increasingly irrelvent as the EU continues to centralise power with the Commission.

Over the last 10 years the Commission has introduced around 2,340 regulations (cannot be overturned, have to be implemented as EU law states) a year compared to 103 directives a year (directives can be suited on member states behalf to how they wish to implement them and when). So about 96% of all new laws passed during the last decade are actually regulations, giving lie to the Commission which claim that is 'often' uses directives. This meant that by the start of 2009 only about 6 per cent of the total body of current EU law was now based on the more flexible directives, with a massive 94% coming from completely inflexible regulations.

% of EU law coming from regulations rather than directives

1985 - 81%
1009 - 81%
1995 - 82%
2000 - 91%
2005 - 93%
2009 - 94%

In terms of trade with the EU, China manages to trade with the EU as does the rest of the world (including Switzerland which is landlocked inside the European Union). All the United Kingdom has to do is sign a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union like many other countries have done so, that is if we want free trade (I personally do); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Tr...European_Union

It's as simple as that, don't let them fool you into thinking we are a small tiny nation - we are the worlds 6th largest economy and we should be free to decide who we trade with, on what terms we trade with and how we trade with other nations around the world. This applies especially to the Commonwealth which contains some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Besides, the EU was never intended to be about trade in the first place;

The first president of the European Central Bank (ECB) backed up this view; 'The process of monetary union goes hand in hand, must go hand in hand, with political integration and ultimately political union. EMU (European Monetary Union] is, and always was meant to be, a stepping stone on the way to a United Europe.'

+many more quotes provided on request.

[alexxxxx]

We don't have any say at the moment, we have 70 odd members in a Chamber of 600 odd members which makes the smaller laws and is nothing like a parliament as the Commission proposes legislation. The Commission itself and the ECJ are the motor behind integration and the laws, the Commission meets in secret and we can also be outvoted on QMV (Qualified Majority Voting)... the say we have is very little and increasingly irrelvent as the EU continues to centralise power with the Commission.

You bit, so i might as well respond. It is a parliament and it holds some very important jobs. Most UK regulations are not passed through parliament either. Not all UK-based regulation is passed through the UK Parliament either. The cabinet meets in secret too. It's comparable.

In terms of trade with the EU, China manages to trade with the EU as does the rest of the world (including Switzerland which is landlocked inside the European Union). All the United Kingdom has to do is sign a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union like many other countries have done so, that is if we want free trade (I personally do); http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Tr...European_Union

It's as simple as that, don't let them fool you into thinking we are a small tiny nation - we are the worlds 6th largest economy and we should be free to decide who we trade with, on what terms we trade with and how we trade with other nations around the world. This applies especially to the Commonwealth which contains some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Besides, the EU was never intended to be about trade in the first place;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea..._Customs_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquis_communautaire

The idea is to make Turkey abide by EU law even though it is not even part of the EU or has any method of input. And the link to your Mexico agreement contains this:

were eliminated or reduced that apply to a large quantity of importing goods.

Not EVERY tax is eliminated with these 'Free Trade' agreements and Switzerland has to implement some elements of EU law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFTA

[-:Undertaker:-]

You bit, so i might as well respond. It is a parliament and it holds some very important jobs. Most UK regulations are not passed through parliament either. Not all UK-based regulation is passed through the UK Parliament either. The cabinet meets in secret too. It's comparable.

The British Cabinet is elected, the Commission on the other hand is not accountable to the electorate.

Besides, who asked for a Commission to make laws which overrule our parliament and our cabinet?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea..._Customs_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquis_communautaire

The idea is to make Turkey abide by EU law even though it is not even part of the EU or has any method of input. And the link to your Mexico agreement contains this:

Not EVERY tax is eliminated with these 'Free Trade' agreements and Switzerland has to implement some elements of EU law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFTA

We have all deals with all nations on what standards we can and cannot use, the difference with Europe is that Europe seems to require a ridiculous amount of standardisation which simply pushes up the prices for its own citizens, not for the producers like the Chinese. So being outside is far better, as we can still provide goods for Europe to their standard (but have to sell them at a higher price to Europe as a result) but then on the other hand we can do what Europe cannot which is make products to the less-stringent requirements of Asia, the United States and the world in general.

Europe with its slow growth rates, ageing population, mass of regulation and high taxation is fast becoming an irrelevance which Britain doesn't have to tie itself to. The Euro is collapsing around your head (as many said it would) and you still want to be a part of this mad house, incredible. The following video is from March of this year, everything he and others have said over the past decade has turned out to be spot-on;



The choice is now a breakup of the Euro or a fiscal union, of which there is no mandate for the latter. I mean, we tell you this would happen but as usual the people at the bottom will suffer because of the wild dreams of a few at the top all because they wanted their United Europe of which none of the peoples of Europe want. An utter disgrace and you should be embarrassed at trying to defend its total incompetence.