EU
Cannot Be Serious! The
Truth About Europe Say
NO To Europe And The Euro
EUROPEAN
UNION
A DREAM FOR BRUSSELS BUREAUCRATS
BUT A NIGHTMARE FOR BRITAIN
1.
Why was the European Union formed? [
Index ]
There are so few good arguments
for being in the European Union (EU) today that it is
hard to remember why it started. The two most important
reasons belong to the last century and are now out of
date.
First, in 1945 the French wanted
to stop the Germans starting another war in Europe. They
thought they could tie Germany down within a union of
all European countries.
Second, the Americans wanted to support
a bloc in Europe against the threat of the Soviet Union.
EU believers still claim that the EU is crucial to keeping
peace in Europe. But wars are not started by democracies.
They often begin when different nations are forced together.
Yugoslavia is the latest of many examples. Even in the
UK, the recent troubles in Northern Ireland are a horrible
reminder that living under the same roof is no guarantee
of a happy marriage. To cram the British together with
the French, Germans, Italians, Greeks and Spaniards would
be asking for trouble.
A third reason for the EU was the creation
of the Single Market - the duty free exchange of goods
and freedom of travel across Europe. That was a good idea.
But it didn't - and still doesn't - need to lead to a
single government for all of Europe.
2.
Why did Britain join the EU?
[
Index ]
It was understandable that Britain
wanted to join the Single Market. However, there was no
need to join the EU and Britain made a big mistake in
doing so. Most people thought that the EU was a natural
extension of the Single Market. They did not realise that,
as a result, Britain would lose its sovereignty and independence.
3.
Can Britain veto decisions we don't agree with?
[
Index ]
Britain's right to protect itself
has been steadily eroded. We can still block decisions
in a few areas but even these are under threat. In most
cases, Britain can be outvoted by other EU countries.
(1)
The House of Commons is then compelled to put the EU's
decision into law.
It is not just that Britain often loses
to the other EU countries. We also have to fight the bureaucrats
who work for the EU institutions: the Commission, Council,
Court and Parliament. They are committed to building a
single government for Europe, giving them increasing power
over us. They approach every problem with this goal in
mind.
4.
Is there any protection for minority interests like the
UK under European law?
[
Index ]
The EU does have a special Court
to hear this kind of appeal. Unfortunately, it invariably
finds in favour of the 'ever closer union of the peoples
of Europe' as required by the Treaty, rather than protecting
the rights of individual nations.
Britain has a long history of protecting
the rights of its citizens, going back to Magna Carta
in 1215. But the EU's new Charter of Fundamental Rights
will override all our legislation.
One key element of our tradition is
'Habeas Corpus'. This means that British people are treated
as innocent until proven guilty. But the EU has an idea
called 'Corpus Juris' which would destroy our traditions.
If an EU country wants to arrest you, our police would
have to give you up even without any evidence.
5. Would
our trade suffer if we left the EU?
[
Index ]
There is no need to worry about
future trade with the EU if we withdraw from it. We buy
far more of their goods than they buy of ours. (2)
If trade stopped altogether, the EU countries would lose
far more than we would.
The Germans will still want to go on
selling to us their Mercedes, BMWs and Volkswagens, the
Italians their Fiats and the French their Renaults, wines
and perfumes. We could easily enter into a Free Trade
Agreement with them, because they would be mad not to.
Indeed, the EU has just entered into a Free Trade Agreement
with Mexico, for example, which would suit Britain very
well. Even without negotiating a Free Trade Agreement,
the UK would be better off if we exported to the Single
Market from outside the EU because our contributions to
the EU outweigh our trade advantages by about £2 billion
per annum. (3)
Only about 14 per cent of everything
Britain produces (Gross Domestic Product - GDP) is exported
to the EU. This amount is declining and in deficit. Another
14 per cent goes to the rest of the world. The remaining
72 per cent of our GDP is our domestic economy. We should
not let the mangy EU tail go on wagging our healthy UK
dog. They need us far more than we need them. (4)
6. If we
left the EU would we lose out on its aid to the UK?
[
Index ]
Don't fall for that one. We give to
the EU more than we receive. We pay about £11 billion
annually to the EU from which it gives us back about half.
(5)
So there really is no such thing as 'EU aid'. We would
be far better spending our money ourselves, without the
costly and corrupt bureaucratic filter of Brussels. The
net amount of money we give them would buy over 50 hospitals
every year for example. Surely this would be a much better
way of spending our money?
7.
What do we pay our contribution for?
[
Index ]
Much of it is wasted running the absurdly
over-regulated bureaucracy of the EU. The EU is like a
paper-making factory. The number of regulations, directives
and legal acts issued by the EU has increased more than
tenfold since Britain joined and there are now over 25,000
in force. (6)
The EU spends most effort on the least
important subjects. The Ten Commandments run to 300 words
and the American Declaration of Independence to just under
1330. In contrast, the EU directive on the export of duck
eggs runs to over 26,900 words - a time-consuming bureaucratic
blizzard of bumf.
8.
Is it really true that there is a lot of fraud and corruption
in the EU? [
Index ]
The EU Commission has admitted to fraud
of about £500 million a year (7)
, enough to build 5 hospitals a year in Britain. But experts
in the House of Lords think that the true figure is at
least seven times as much. The EU Court of Auditors refused
to pass the EU accounts for several years and every member
of the Commission had to resign in 1999 because of the
scandalous record. The EU's £7 billion annual foreign
aid budget is also grossly mismanaged; much of the money
does not arrive at its destination. (8)
9. Have we
benefited from the Common Agricultural Policy?
[
Index ]
The CAP is a complete nonsense.
The EU pays some farmers not to produce food. It pays
others to produce food which is not worth growing. For
example, the EU obliges us to provide only 85 per cent
of the milk we need, while our farmers spray milk onto
fields to avoid exceeding their quota.
The result is that British people pay
more for food than they should. The CAP costs the average
UK family an extra £1000 a year in food costs. We need
the CAP like a hole in the head. (9)
10.
What has happened to our fisheries? [
Index ]
Fishing was the livelihood of
thousands of British workers and indirectly of thousands
more. The EU's Common Fisheries Policy has destroyed most
of this. We can no longer simply catch fish in our waters.
Instead, the EU tells us what we can and cannot catch.
Britain used to own over three quarters
of the fish in EU waters. Now we are allowed to catch
only one third of the EU's fish. (10)
By the end of 2002, all the EU's fishing fleets will be
able to fish in our twelve mile coastal belt.
The Brussels bureaucrats who designed
this absurd policy thought they could conserve fish by
limiting the numbers landed in port. They did not realise
that most fish are dead when they come up in the nets,
so millions of tonnes of fish are thrown back dead into
the sea each year in the name of EU conservation.
11.
Have we benefited from the EU in any other industries
that might compensate for the loss of our fishing waters?
[
Index ]
On the contrary, the cancerous influence
of Brussels has also affected adversely our waste disposal,
beef, herbal medicines, lorries, dairy farmers, whisky
distillers, market gardeners, cheesemakers, paper rounds,
boat builders, hotels, art market, duty free shopping
and many other British interests.
12.
If the EU has its way, will we still have the capacity
to wage war or defend ourselves?
[
Index ]
The current plan is for the EU to have
a force of 60,000 soldiers. It will be used only for humanitarian
purposes. But the long term aim of creating a single European
government means that we can expect demands for a single
EU army. In this event, NATO, which has kept the peace
in Europe for many years, would be severely undermined.
The men and women in our armed forces might be required
to fight a war under a French or German general for a
cause in which we do not believe. We might also find it
difficult to help our allies, like America.
13.
Is there another way of continuing trade preferentially
with the Eurozone?
[
Index ]
Norway is a successful example
of this approach. They twice voted against joining the
EU but are still members of the European Economic Area
and enjoy full tariff-free access to the Eurozone. Norway's
exports to the EU have been at record levels since then.
(11)
Norway enjoys good relationships with
the EU but does not have to contribute to the EU budget
and is not part of Common Agricultural Policy and Common
Fisheries Policy. Clever Norway!
14.
Is the EU working well?
[
Index ]
Far from it. On average there are twice
as many people unemployed in European countries than in
the USA. (12)
Europe is in fact lagging behind America in every respect.
It has more people out of work. Its people earn lower
wages and suffer higher taxes. It is behind in the key
industries of the future such as the internet.
15.
Can Britain go it alone?
[
Index ]
Of course we can. Britain is
one of the world's strongest countries. We have the fourth
largest economy in the world. (13)
The City of London is one of the world's leading financial
centres. We sit on the United Nations Security Council
with the world's other leading countries. We founded the
Commonwealth and English is spoken by over one billion
people.
This year Britain has twice been voted
the second best place in the whole world to do business.
In a recent survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit,
Britain's prospects for the next five years were rated
second only to the Netherlands. Germany and France were
10th and 15th respectively. (14)
We lead Europe in the industries of
the future, such as the internet. (15)
Britain has expert knowledge in advanced technology, art,
science, engineering, telecommunications and medicine.
Before too long we would not miss the
EU Single Market. It already costs very little to trade
with most countries around the world. The World Trade
Organisation is aiming to remove the last remaining duties.
Trading blocs like the EU will become a thing of the past.
But until then we should have no difficulty in negotiating
a new Free Trade Agreement with Europe. Because we buy
more of their goods than they do of ours, they would be
mad to let us withdraw without one.
On our own we would be free from the
crushing bureaucracy of Brussels and free from having
to pay billions of pounds towards its costs. This money
could be far better spent in our economy.
Britain has had to fight many wars
to preserve the right to govern ourselves. We should not
give up our sovereignty lightly. Our current leaders do
not seem to have grasped that our freedom is at stake.
The British people themselves need to take a stand.
16.
Isn't joining EMU more about trade than politics?
[
Index ]
That is what most politicians
tell you. They say that Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
is only a commercial project. But in Europe all politicians
accept that it is designed to create a single European
government, with its own foreign and defence policies
and its own legal system. You have only to listen to what
some of the key people in the EU have been saying for
years:
A previous President of the EU, Jacques
Delors, said: 'Yes, we have to have transfers of sovereignty
to achieve economic and monetary union.'
More recently, the new President of
the European Commission, Romano Prodi, told the European
Parliament: 'We must now face the difficult task of moving
towards a single economy, a single political unity.'
Wim Duisenberg, President
of the European Central Bank, said: 'The process of monetary
union goes hand in hand, must go hand in hand, with political
integration and ultimately political union. EMU is, and
was always meant to be, a stepping stone on the way to
a united Europe.'
Hans Tietmeyer, former President
of the German Central Bank, said: 'A country that merges
its currency with that of another currency cannot be politically
independent.'
Gerhard Schroeder, the new Chancellor
of Germany, said: 'The introduction of the euro is probably
the most important integrating step since the beginning
of the unification process...it is certain that the times
of independent nation states are definitely over...the
internal market and the common currency demand joint co-ordinating
action.'
So who do our Euro-enthusiasts think
they are kidding, other than themselves?
17.
Would interest rates fall if we joined EMU?
[
Index ]
The problem with EMU is that
it allows only one interest rate for 11 diverging economies,
all growing at different rates at different times. The
'one-size-fits-all' interest rate will never be right
for all 11 countries.
At present, the German economy is in
difficulties with unemployment twice that of the UK, while
the Irish economy is booming. The Germans need lower interest
rates to stimulate their economy, while the Irish need
higher rates to avoid a property crash. In EMU, they must
both have the same rate, whether they like it or not.
If the UK joins the Single Currency,
we would certainly be forced to accept an interest rate
(as we had to in the ERM) that would be wrong for our
economy. If it is too low as is currently likely, we would
be stoking inflation.
If we continue to fix our own interest
rate, our economy will not be put at risk. For this reason,
the Governor of the Bank of England said recently that
he was 'relieved' we did not join the euro when it started.
The EU 'Tax Misery'
Index
| Country |
Personal Tax range
%
|
Corp. Tax range
%
|
Employee soc.sec.
range %
|
Employer soc.sec.
range %
|
Index
|
| France |
10.5 - 59 |
40 |
15 - 18 |
35 - 45 |
180 |
| Belgium |
25 - 35 |
40 |
13 |
35 |
159.2 |
| Austria |
10 - 50 |
34 |
18 -22 |
22 - 28 |
148.3 |
| Greece |
5 - 45 |
35 - 40 |
16 |
27 |
142.2 |
| Spain |
20 - 56 |
35 |
6 |
31 |
142.4 |
| Italy |
19 - 46 |
37 |
9 |
30 - 34 |
140 |
| Germany |
29 - 53 |
45 |
13 |
13 |
138.7 |
| Sweden |
31 - 56 |
28 |
7 |
33 |
137.8 |
| Neths |
7 - 60 |
35 |
8 |
20 |
136.1 |
| Finland |
5.5 - 56 |
28 |
8 |
23 |
128 |
| Portugal |
15 - 40 |
34 |
11 |
24 |
120.8 |
| Lux. |
5.2 - 47 |
30 |
11 - 13 |
11 - 14 |
115.1 |
| Denmark |
40 - 58 |
34 |
8 |
0 |
111.1 |
| Ireland |
24 - 46 |
32 |
4.5 |
12 |
105 |
| UK |
20 - 40 |
30 |
3 -10 |
3 - 10 |
100 |
|
|
|
Scource : Calculations
of Sachverstandigenrat,
based on OCED Reveue Statistics1965-1997 Edition 1998.
See also Global Competitiveness
Report 1999, World Economic Forum, p.91.
18.
Will our taxes go down if we join EMU?
[
Index ]
You may have been told that our
taxes will be left alone if we join EMU, but take no notice.
The true position was clearly stated by someone who ought
to know - Hans Tietmeyer, the former President of Germany's
Central Bank. He said: 'A European currency will lead
to member nations transferring their sovereignty over
financial and wage policy, as well as in monetary affairs.
It is an illusion to think that states can hold on to
autonomy over taxation policy.' Very recently, the French
government announced that tax harmonisation was a priority
for its Presidency of the EU. If this happens our taxes
will go up by over 18 per cent. (16)
Believe it or not, at present the UK
has the lowest taxes in Europe and is a comparative tax
haven. Britain's corporation tax for business is 30 per
cent and is the lowest of any major industrialised country
in the world. The EU average is about a third as much
again.
The countries using the Single
Currency cannot reduce their tax burden in the future
because, unlike Britain, they have not set aside enough
for their pensions. Britain has more money put aside in
private pensions than the rest of the EU put together.
(17)
If France and Germany do not take action,
they will find themselvs spending more and more on pensions
as their populations get older. This will require even
higher taxation.
Europe's leaders are openly arguing
for control of Britain's tax policies. The European Commission
already has plans to impose VAT at a uniform rate of between
15 per cent and 25 per cent on all goods, including children's
clothes, books, newspapers, travel fares, new houses,
and food, all of which are at present exempt in Britain.
If we want to keep low taxes, we have to stay out of EMU.
19. Would
joining EMU help our inflation rate?
[
Index ]
Only if you want to double it! At present
the UK's inflation rate of under 1 per cent a year is
the lowest in Europe and is about half the European average.
20.
What will happen to our pensions if we join EMU?
[
Index ]
Like most things in the EU it
will cost us dearly. At present, UK pensions are the best
funded in Europe. By 2030, Germany will have to spend
three times as much as us just to keep their pensions
at their present rate. (18)
As populations age, this pensions timebomb
in Europe will lead to either reduced benefits or higher
taxes. If we join EMU, there is an obvious danger that
we will end up, one way or another, having to make substantial
contributions to the pensions deficits of Germany, France
and Italy.
|
21.
What will happen to our gold reserves if we join
EMU? [
Index ]
Can't
you guess? They
will be transferred to the European Central Bank
which will 'hold and manage the official reserves
of the Member States'. For the UK, this would mean
surrendering control of our gold reserves of £28
billion. (19)
This is one of the many
reasons why joining EMU would be irreversible.
|
22. Is it
true that foreign investment into the UK would suffer
if we did not join the Single Currency, and that jobs
would be lost? [
Index ]
Foreign investors know what they
are doing. They are attracted to the UK because we have
by far the lowest business taxes in Europe and a reliable
workforce. We also have considerably less regulation and
bureaucracy and we are comparatively free of corruption.
In addition, we speak the world's most popular commercial
language - already 80 per cent of all electronically stored
information is in English. (20)
We continue to receive the lion's share
of inward investment in the EU. Last year we received
twice as much inward investment as France and three times
as much as Germany. (21) Our share has not
been affected by foreign investors already knowing that
the majority of the British people are against joining
the euro. Companies like Honda, Vauxhall, Marconi and
Ford have all announced big investments in Britain because
of our much more favourable business climate.
There will undoubtedly be a new Free
Trade Agreement with Europe if we don't join EMU and leave
the EU. The interests of present and future investors
would be fully protected, so they will go on investing
in the UK.
23.
Would joining EMU help reduce unemployment?
[
Index ]
Many trade unionists have now realised
that 'EMU' also stands for 'Even More Unemployment'. Countries
using the Single Currency have a much higher unemployment
rate than Britain. Since we left the ERM, Britain has
created more jobs than the rest of the EU put together.
24.
Did we learn anything from our membership of the Exchange
Rate Mechanism, the forerunner of EMU?
[
Index ]
One crucial lesson - it is absolutely
vital to keep control of our own interest rates. Our two
year membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was
disastrous for Britain. It cost one million jobs and made
100,000 businesses bankrupt. Since we were liberated from
the ERM by market forces the British economy has prospered
far better than Europe.
Last year the UK overtook France as
the world's fourth largest economy. We achieved this since
leaving the ERM, because we have had the right level of
interest rates for our economy and the right exchange
rate for developing our world trade. This would not have
been possible within the Single Currency.
25.
If EMU is such bad news for the UK, why does the Prime
Minister, some leading politicians, and a number of leading
businessmen argue in its favour?
[
Index ]
The Prime Minister is no longer content
with his role as Mr UK. He wants to play the political
game on a bigger stage and sees himself as Mr Europe.
( See ... Murder
Of Dr David Kelly )
The Conservatives took us into
the EU. Like most politicians, they are not very good
at admitting their mistakes. They also fear that a movement
to withdraw now would be seen as too right wing and would
frighten the voters. They are wrong about this too - polls
indicate that, if forced to choose, more British people
would vote to leave the EU than join EMU. This is in spite
of being told for 25 years that the EU is vital to the
national interest. If a fraction of the money spent on
propaganda had been spent on explaining the 'get-out'
case properly, popular support for it would be overwhelming.
Businessmen who support EMU are in
the main from big global businesses. Independent surveys
show that only a quarter of all UK businessmen want to
adopt the euro. Three quarters want to keep the pound.
Most small to medium-sized businesses are against the
euro and it is they who are today's job creators.
The businessmen who say they like the
Single Market are usually just expressing their belief
in free trade, which could in any event be preserved by
negotiating a Free Trade Agreement if we left the EU.
26.
If EMU is such bad news, why are France and Germany keen
on it? [
Index ]
As in the UK, you have to distinguish
between the politicians and the people. After a tremendous
amount of Government spending on the case for EMU, European
France voted against Maastricht. Those in favour reached
just over 50 per cent because of votes from Guadeloupe
and Martinique.
In Germany, there is growing disquiet
as unemployment continues to be a major problem and as
the mark falls in value with the euro.
27.
Can you think of any argument in favour of the Single
Currency? [
Index ]
Not on balance. There are three main
points in its favour but there are far more against. There
would be some savings on business transaction costs. It
would be easier to compare European prices with our own.
We would not need to incur the cost of changing pounds
into other Eurozone currencies. However, when put on the
scales against being forced to accept the wrong interest
rate for the UK, the loss of exchange rate flexibility,
higher taxes, higher unemployment costs and massively
increased regulation and bureaucracy, there is an overwhelming
case against joining.
28. At some
point in the future, can we leave EMU, like we left the
ERM, if it does not work out well for us?
[
Index ]
No, if we join EMU, it will be
irreversible. We will lose the pound, our gold reserves
and domestic monetary control forever. EMU is the ERM
without the escape hatch.
The nightmare will be permanent. It
will be no good saying: 'What a shame - I wish I had thought
about it a little more before I cast my vote.'
Index
01. Why was the European Union formed?
02. Why did Britain join the EU?
03. Can
Britain veto decisions we don't agree with?
04. Is there any protection for minority interests
like the UK under European law?
05. Would our trade suffer if we left the EU?
06. If we left the EU would we lose out on its aid
to the UK?
07. What do we pay our contribution for?
08. Is it really true that there is a lot of fraud
and corruption in the EU?
09. Have we benefited from the Common Agricultural
Policy?
10. What has happened to our fisheries?
11. Have we benefited from the EU in any other industries
that might compensate for the loss of our fishing waters?
12. If the EU has its way, will we still have the
capacity to wage war or defend ourselves?
13. Is there another way of continuing trade preferentially
with the Eurozone?
14. Is the EU working well?
15. Can Britain go it alone?
16. Isn't joining EMU more about trade than politics?
17. Would interest rates fall if we joined EMU?
18. Will our taxes go down if we join EMU?
19. Would joining EMU help our inflation rate?
20. What will happen to our pensions if we join
EMU?
21. What will happen to our gold reserves if we
join EMU?
22. Is it true that foreign investment into the
UK would suffer if we did not join the Single Currency,
and that jobs would be lost?
23. Would joining EMU help reduce unemployment?
24. Did we learn anything from our membership of
the Exchange Rate Mechanism, the forerunner of EMU?
25. If
EMU is such bad news for the UK, why does the Prime Minister,
some leading politicians, and a number of leading businessmen
argue in its favour? (
See ... Murder
Of Dr David Kelly
)
26. If EMU is such bad news, why are France and
Germany keen on it?
27. Can you think of any argument in favour of the
Single Currency?
28. At some point in the future, can we leave EMU,
like we left the ERM, if it does not work out well for
us?
WHAT CAN YOU
DO ABOUT IT ?
There is very little that one
person can do on their own but if we get together a great
deal can be achieved. Politicians change their policies
when they are faced with a tidal wave of public opinion.
You can help to create that wave and this is how you can
do it.
| 1.
Pass this pamphlet on to a
friend who might be unsure about the EU and EMU. Ask
your friend to carry on the good work and pass it
on to another friend |
|
2.
Write to your MP at the House of Commons, London SW1A
0AA and make your views clear.
3.
Write to the BBC (Fraser Steel, Head of Programme Complaints,
BBC, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA),
or ITV (Programme Complaints Department, ITC, 33 Foley
Street, London W1P 7LB) if you think any of their programmes
are biased or the full case is not being presented fairly.
4.
Vote against EMU if and when there is a Referendum and
try to persuade your family and friends to help preserve
the pound.
5.
Never vote for any political party that is intent on closer
integration with Europe.
6.
If you are against the EU or EMU make a donation of whatever
you can spare to The Democracy Movement, Freepost LON
10777, London SW6 1YZ. We arranged for the production
and distribution of this booklet and have been working
tirelessly to promote the anti-EU cause. With your help
we will be able to step up our campaign substantially
and make sure that the Government gets a resounding NO
from the Electorate when they call for a Referendum on
giving up the pound.
EUROPEAN UNION - A DREAM
FOR BRUSSELS BUREAUCRATS
BUT A NIGHTMARE FOR BRITAIN
bravenet.com
