I am a passionate believer in the European project.  It makes it easier for me to travel and work abroad.  I know it is easier for businesses to trade with each other by trading in a fixed currency and for manufacturers to know there are single Europe wide standards for products and some services making it cheaper to produce products to meet these standards, than if there were different standards for each country.  I know that the euro has made price transparency easy for me to compare goods and services in euros.  I know the EU is making efforts to protect the environment on a European and international level, precisely the level these challenges need to be handled.  I am pleased that the EU is more than the sum of its parts when representing its member states as a bloc in international trade negotiations. The EU makes me feel safe in the knowledge that cross border cooperation is the spirit of modern Europe and not conflict. It is the EU which recently forced mobile phone operators to lower prices for customers when calling to and from abroad.  Without the EU none of the above would be possible and even if it was attempted it would cost far more than the EU to build a civil service to make it happen.

I have my concerns about the EU, but when I think about them, they are no different from the concerns I have about Westminster and as a Lib-dem I want to see Westminster reformed and improved to better represent the views ordinary people, I want the same level of reform for Europe for ordinary European citizens.  I have concerns about the democratic legitimacy of the European Commission relative to the European parliament, but I am equally concerned by an unelected House of Lords.  I worry that there might be corruption in the European Union, but I know there is corruption in Westminster, it is in the newspapers everyday.  I worry that some EU legislation does not have my interests at heart because I live far away from Brussels, but equally I know that much of the legislation coming out of Westminster would have been much better framed if it had been handled at a more local level and other legislation would have been much more effective if it had been handled at a European level through the European commission and parliament.  I am concerned that the Common Agricultural policy is a terrible waste of money, but I am deeply troubled that the UK has opted to replace the trident nuclear deterrent.I am equally concerned about all of the above, but want to work within the EU to make the EU a better place, just like I want to make British politics better through reform. My biggest worry is that too much press goes to those who see only the fault in the EU and not enough to the good things the EU is doing for us everyday.  If this undermines support for the EU it will do far more harm to us than those who dislike it, claim it already does. 

While I am a passionate believer in the EU there are areas where I currently draw the line on EU integration or involvement.  I would not join the euro – our economy is just not mature enough, while I do not like using interest rates to control the economy, it seems too blunt an instrument, we cant cope without the flexibility it affords right now.  We need to deal with the north – south economic divide before we open up a new economic divide between us and other EU states. Tax harmonisation is not a good idea at all.  I would even advocate tax flexibility within the UK to equal out regional economic differencesEducation policy – I do not see the need for the EU to be involved in education policy, it should be decided at the most local level possible, but rights to education should be enshrined for all EU citizens and the EU may have some role to play in cross border educational opportunities. An EU defence force is certainly a good idea for sharing equipment costs and ensuring that EU states are able to be involved in all ways possible in international conflict resolution and have all the equipment required to do this.  At present some EU operations can not take place without some US assistance.  However, the defence force should retain national vetoes and should not become a rival to NATO, acting more as a partner. To find out more about what the EU does for you everyday see:http://ldeg.org/resources/sites/82.165.40.25-436cfeee1ec489.65617500/EUWhatsinitforme.pdf 

The failed Lisbon treaty is a very interesting issue.  I was amazed at how much negative press the treaty drew.  The treaty as I saw it pulled together a lot of existing treaties and gave up little more powers than it gave back to EU states.  I was surprised that so few of the people who protested against the treaty seemed to notice that it was the first EU treaty that actually outlined procedures for states to leave the EU.  I was personally broadly in favour of the treaty and did not see anymore need for a referendum on it that any other past EU treaties.  It is not as if we have a referendum on our own national political system every decade or so, although I could not say I would be against such a system.