Free trade, yes, but who voted for federalism?
I AM 72 and voted to remain in the European Economic Community (EEC) in the 1975 referendum. At the time, I was 30 and the director of a small manufacturing company in Daventry. We desperately wanted to get involved with the European export market.
To do so, if I wanted to jump into my car and drive around Europe demonstrating my wares, I had to apply for a carnet (an export/ import document) which allowed me into European countries on a temporary basis without having to pay any import duties on the goods within my car.
At every customs point along the way, I had to join a long queue to get my entry into the next country logged and my carnet suitably endorsed. In simple English, this was torment.
If one succeeded in getting an order, more endless documentation ensued. By the time one finally got paid, one wondered if it had been worth the effort.
Along came the EEC. Brilliant: no more customs and a free trade zone — exactly what we wanted. Nothing more, nothing less.
Subsequently, various politicians/ governments involved us in the wretched currency ‘snake’ (in which most EEC countries linked their currencies — the precursor to the euro), which nearly broke us when interest rates went ballistic.
We left it and retained the pound, so at least we could revalue and devalue as required.
Now, the euro has managed to bankrupt the Greeks, with other Southern European countries nearing the brink.
One day people will realise that a federal Europe is a nonsense. Greeks will always be Greek, Italians will always be Italian, and hopefully Brits will always be Brits. The Eurozone depends on all countries adopting a common structured way of life with common economic practices and work ethics.
I, with many fellow Brits, voted last year to come out of the EU. I, with many fellow Brits, do not want to come out of the EEC. We voted to be in it. It’s the ‘U’ bit we object to and all the governing ambitions of a federal Europe.
Most of today’s politicians didn’t go through the Seventies, with the devaluation of the pound, miners’ strikes, oil embargo and a threeday working week.
After the carefree Sixties, my age group came down to earth with an almighty thump and had to do a lot of growing up awfully quickly.
The EEC was about the only good thing going to help the recovery process. Then our politicians got us into the EU. Back downhill again. Michael Johnson, Welford, northampton.