Europe

[Furunculus]

Completely agreed. I find it kind of disturbing that most euroseptic parties/groups are always radicals. Neither the moderate left nor the moderate right achieved to give birth to a reasonable and respectable euroseptic movement.

I personnally think the EU has a damn lot of flaws (though I'm all for an european confederation or federation), but the debate about the EU is nothing but a white/black oversimplified manicheism. You either have to support the EU or be against it, and there's at the moment no middle-ground. Not a single shade of grey.

As for the party itself, I'm not surprised that Britishs and Poles form the largest part of it. I'm wondering why both countries begged so hard to enter the EU, but I'm also confident nobody could explain this.

not radicals any more, the EPP in particular could not give birth to moderate (right-wing) EUro-skepticism because it is an explicitly pro-federal party.

this probably results from so many national electorates being left without a mainstream party that campaigns on a EUro-skeptic ticket.

i cannot speak for poland, but britain's choice results from its post-colonial/WW2/socialist hangover where the country perceived itself to be in a state of perpetual decline, and popularly dubbed as the "sick man of europe".

[Louis VI the Fat]

I cannot speak for poland, but britain's choice results from its post-colonial/WW2/socialist hangover where the country perceived itself to be in a state of perpetual decline, and popularly dubbed as the "sick man of europe".

And it was, until, that is, the EU provided a new prospect for the UK. Which it grabbed with one hand while lashing out at it with the other.

A bit like Poland really.

[Furunculus]

And it was, until, that is, the EU provided a new prospect for the UK. Which it grabbed with one hand while lashing out at it with the other.

we had free-trade with europe for over a decade before we joined the EEC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea...de_Association

and we did not start to recover from economic malaise until the the early eighties, nearly a decade after we joined the EEC.

your position that the UK owes its prosperity to the EEC/EU is ridiculous, europe is atrade partner just like any other.

[Kagemusha]

Well the Finnish MEP is actually from the main governing party of Finland so he can hardly be counted as extremist. I dont understand the atmosphere when ever EU is talked about. As if it is somekind of sacred cow. It seems one should only hate it or love it and anykind of sensical talk about reforming it is out of the question when the opposing sides concentrate on labeling each other.

[Furunculus]

maybe now that there is a mainstream anti-federalist movement within the EU the debate on where the EU goes in future will be more reasonable too.