Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2013-12-11-Speech-3-504-000"
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"en.20131211.66.3-504-000"2
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"Mr President, this report sets out sweeping new powers for the European Union. It proposes that the EU budget be substantially increased, that EU-wide taxes be introduced, that the EU should be allowed to borrow money and that Member States lose almost all of their powers of veto.
It is clear that this report was drawn up in the Brussels bubble. It bears no relationship to what our citizens really want. It is yet another step towards ever closer political union. That may be the ambition of many Members of this Parliament, but it is not my goal and it is not the goal of my group.
Do our constituents really want us to hand over vast new powers to the Commission so that it can tell national governments how much they can tax, spend and borrow? Such powers undermine democracy, and we have already seen what damage this has done to Greece and other countries where the Troika has taken over control of their economies.
Very few people believe that the EU is working well. This House should accept that many Member States do not believe that more Europe is the answer to their problems. In the United Kingdom there is a strong mood that we would like rather less Europe. The EU already has too much power and interferes too much in the everyday lives of our citizens. It is too expensive and does not spend wisely the money the taxpayers send it.
I want to see Europe reformed. I want to see the relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU changed so that powers are repatriated to our Parliament in Westminster. I understand that is not a popular view in this Chamber and I accept that members of the eurozone need to change the way they govern their economies.
If they need Treaty changes to provide for closer economic integration, then non-eurozone states like Britain should not stand in the way. We should cooperate to agree a new European settlement that allows Member States much more flexibility in the areas in which they share sovereignty. This will mean more integration for some and less integration for others. We need to lay to rest the concept that the European Union is a project in which powers can only ever flow towards the centre. Those days are over."@en1
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