Leading article: A seasonal reminder of the benefits of Europe

[MrScorpio]

Published: 21 December 2007

The complaint of Eurosceptics is a familiar one: "What has the European Union ever done for us?" Well there have been several developments this week alone that have provided an eloquent answer to that question.

One is a ruling from the EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes which is set to force credit card companies to cut the fees they charge shops for authorising sales. If these savings are passed on by retailers and restaurants, it could result in a fall in prices of up to £1bn a year. Our own Office of Fair Trading has signalled that it expects to implement the Commission's ruling within months. These charges have long been a disgrace. They are borne by all consumers, regardless of whether they pay by credit card or not, in the form of higher prices. They also bear no resemblance to what it actually costs the credit card companies to deliver the service. But now, thanks to the European Commission, time has been called on the racket.

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These successes follow the Commission's triumph in breaking up the British Airways-Virgin monopoly on transatlantic flights in a deal sealed earlier this year. In May the Commission also implemented a regulation that prevents mobile phone companies imposing extortionate charges on people who use their handsets abroad. People making calls abroad should now be noticing a sharp drop in their phone bills. This is all part of an encouraging trend. Europe is increasingly becoming the institution with the power and moral authority to stand up to the profiteering of large corporations.

The Rest[br />
A great example of how progressive minded governments stand up against the power of corporations for the needs of the citizen. I find it amazing that we have only very few candidates who would echo such a stand in this country, when in Europe it's standard operating procedure.

[1monster]

1. Can the US join the EU?

:evilgrin: :hide:

[Tesha]

3. We probably don't meet the fiscal or human-rights standards. (NT)

[The2ndWheel]

4. As long as the energy required to do so is cheap enough

we will, or they will, or both will at the same time. No reason thousands of years of momemtum will stop now. Well, again, unless the energy required to make it function isn't cheap enough.

[Angela Shelley]

2. Go Europe!

[Bonobo]

5. 4000 miles, no checkpoints. Freedom like the US used to show to the world!

The Europeans must have viewed us this way after WW2. Now look where we are!

[LeftishBrit]

6. Interesting stuff!

I was mildly Euro-sceptic until November 2004. I didn't think that the EU were "destroying our national sovereignty!!!!!111" like some right-wingers did, and I wouldn't have based my vote on what a candidate thought about Europe. But the EU really does have an unwieldy bureaucracy and I found it very irritating in certain situations.

Then Bush was re-elected (or possibly not) and I realized that with all the irritating bureaucracy, the EU is a crucial protector against dictatorially-inclined politicians and economic exploiters and human rights violators running amok. I did not want the UK to become Bush's '51st state' and I also didn't want our very own RW bullies to be able to get excessive power, with no checks.