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Europe
Conservative
& Labour |
Liberal
Democrats |
The
Conservatives have done a great deal of damage to our relationship with the other member
states of the European Union, through:
- Blocking attempts to reform European
institutions to make them more open and democratic (This mentality has prevented reform of
CAP, which would bring cheaper food prices to the UK).
- Tory party internal disagreements
over the issue of Europe, with a policy designed to paper over the cracks in the Tory
party, rather than to serve Britain's best interests.
Labour has changed its attitude
towards the European Union seven times during the past thirty years and the party is also
split over the issue of Europe.
Labour have continued the gtreat Tory tradition of
last-minute planning for the agriculture and fishing industries. It is simply not good
enough that farmers and fishermen can only plan two weeks ahead when they should be
planning two years ahead
The Tories are all at sea on this subject. After 18
years of fiddling and fumbling while these industries was brought to its knees, they can
offer nothing to improve the situation.
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Liberal
Democrats believe Britain should be at the heart of Europe, making Europe work for us. We
would:
- Work for a democratic, decentralised
and diverse Europe, where decisions are taken by elected bodies and as close to home as
possible.
- Democratise the European Union by
giving the elected European Parliament more power over the unelected European Commission.
- Make the European Union more
accountable for it's actions.
- Put Europe to work on the things
it's good at, such as protecting the environment and helping guarantee international
security.
- Introduce the Social Chapter of the
Maastricht Treaty because the most successful companies build success on looking after
their employees.
- Work towards economic and monetary
union, to create a stable economic climate to make exporting easier
- Make an increase in social and
regional spending to assist those areas and individuals suffering from the impact of
greater competition.
- Reform of the Common Agriculture
Policy to protect the countryside and provide safe and cheap food for the consumer.
- Encourage effective community-wide
action to protect the environment, cut down on pollution and to develop cleaner sources of
energy.
- Enlarge the membership of the
European Union.
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Facts & Figures.
- 11 countries will be using the new
euro currency: France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Finland, Austria and Ireland.
- The area covered by the 11 members
has become known as "euroland" or the "euro zone". It will have a
population of 290 million.
- The CAP currently costs European taxpayers over £30
billion a year.
Questions & Answers.
Q.
Liberal Democrats would throw away our veto and cave into European Union
demands?.
A.
Britain has already lost it's veto on most issues, due to Margaret
Thatcher and John Major signing treaties in 1985 and 1991.
Q.
You want a European Federal Superstate which will take away our
sovereignty?.
A.
Liberal Democrats want decentralisation, with more democracy and
accountability.
Related topics:
The European Union
Other topics:
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