Well I imagine most people already have some preconceived notions as to how Scarlet feels about the EU, you're probably not far wrong but this ISN'T A RANT, nor is it time for me to a lay a case out for leaving/staying in the union. I'm just a blogger...
For those of you who do not know the start of what we all know as the EU today was after the Second World War. Western Europe had torn itself apart twice in 40 years and the uneasy peace of Waterloo was done for, from the ashes of war came co-operation. With an eye on the Communists to the East the West came together to unite, to tie their interests together and build a better Europe that could never go to war again. As Germans haven't found their way into Paris and the British and Spanish aren't fighting over Gibraltar it seems like to an extent the original ambition has been achieved. There is peace in Western Europe and it is as solid as ever, with NATO tying up the loose ends we seem free of any Military complications, WELL DONE ALL.
Somewhere along the line however something changed, the Common Market became a nation of its own. The EU now has a President, a seat at the G8 and more branches of Government than that bureaucratic hothouse France! The issue here is that we went from something that was working quite well and accepted to something much bigger with no permissions sought, like it or not (and it seems many do not) our Houses of Parliament now play second fiddle to Brussels on most legislation. As the Common Market expanded its influence economically and socially the UK quietly accepted it, particularly when Maggie was there demanding concessions for the bits and pieces we didn't like. Nowadays it seems the mild irritations are starting to boil over.
I have travelled to Europe several times in my life and have always enjoyed it, but it seems to me that even though we are in the EU, we don't seem to be really 'in' the EU. How handy that there is a single currency so you don't need to exchange your cash.... Oh wait we opted out of that. How handy that there is an agreement which keeps open borders between countries, you can go from one to another without a Passport check.... Oh wait we opted out of that. This is the root of something that complicates our relationship with the EU completely, for the last 40 years we have picked and chose what we did and didn't want. Like a Christian picking the nice parts of the Bible the UK has opted out of any major integrated decisions; and now we are too weak to bully more concessions. The UK is not the player in the EU we believe it to be, not by a long shot. De Gaulle blocked Britain's entry because he believed we would want to dominate, each day that looks like a slightly more astute observation.
It would seem that the whole of Europe is getting concerned about the super state, but it seems to me that we shouldn't. The Euro is on the brink of collapse, the Greeks will set a precedent that will soon see the return of the Drachma, the Lira and the Franc. A smaller diplomatic unit will emerge and Europe will sit in limbo once again. Sadly it seems you can't please everyone; the UK will leave and the blame game will start, it has been nice working together but it simply isn't going to work.
