James Blunt remembers being in a European club in 1973. Sadly (perhaps?) you are not a special member of Pacha in Ibiza, but you and James did join another club that year.
Still unsure? It consists of a collection of different countries’ celebrated weirdos performing against each other in a ‘vote for your neighbour’ competition with critical commentary by an Irishman.
Ok, that was a lie; it is not the Eurovision Song Contest although the tabloids may have you believe that there are many similarities.
Whilst it would be very patronising to suggest you hadn’t heard of the European Union, it may be fairer to suggest that a large proportion of the population doesn’t really understand what it does and how it affects them.
Yet, it is not as complex as it seems. There are four slices to the European pie, pizza, omelette or whatever national dish is appropriate to you. They all come with the obligatory boring sounding titles but essentially there is an elected parliament, a group of ministers who represent each of the 27 countries, another group who propose laws and make sure they are implemented once the parliament has passed it, and a council who provide some guidance. The parliament is arguably the most important as this is where laws that will affect you are passed or killed.
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) represent you in the parliament. There are 78 MEPs who represent the UK, split up amongst the regions; with every region have minimum of three. Research suggests that not many people know who represents them in Europe. Head of Press for UK EP Simon Duffin doesn’t seem to be losing any sleep over it. Simon isn’t concerned about people not knowing who their MEPs are; he just wants them to know what they do.
So you probably don’t remember who you voted for in the last European Elections. You don’t remember voting? Not surprising really, only 38% of the population went along to cast their vote
Respected journalist Andrew Marr spoke of the European Parliament as the ‘Brown, grey, cud of compromise.’ Simon disagrees and points out that it is no more boring that the House of commons; a strange debate over which is the more boring rather than most interesting. They are both right, of course, to the general public parliament is yawn-inducingly dull. Whilst it is the job of the press to condense these dreary proceedings into one, manageable daily package, could it be that two parliaments are just too much?
There is much legislation passed which would barely have any impact whatsoever on the day to day of your life, but then that can also be said of our House of Commons.
All the big parties are there as well as the smaller ones and they hook up and work with their foreign equivalents. Even the UK Independence and British National Party have a fair chunk of representations in Europe. It seems rather hypocritical of the UK Independence party and BNP to have members in Europe, yet a UK Independence Party majority in Europe could essentially give them the power to pull the UK out altogether. This is something that isn’t beyond its reach; a low-turnout election is a great way to get small parties’ loyal supporters out in force to beat the big players.
It is probably the right time that more people were aware of the European Union, particularly as its parliament gains more and more power and could potentially end up being our only parliament, but that choice would be down to you, if you choose to make it.
