Teresa Hunter: We're all Europeans now so make your vote count

Published on Saturday 30 May 2009 14:29

THE things we Europeans have said about each other down through the centuries. "When a Frenchman sleeps, the devil rocks him," is one. "Germans learn to lie before they learn to be polite," is another.

Of Ireland: "Other people have a nationality. The Irish have a psychosis." And Italy: "The paradise of the flesh, the hell of the soul, and the purgatory of the pocket book."

Still, we're all Europeans now, and this Thursday 375 million of us in 27 countries will have the chance to elect 736 Members of the European Parliament for their next five-year term.

Do we care? We should, although most of us haven't a clue who our MEP is or what they do. I suspect that's exactly the way the Eurocrats in Brussels like it. Why bother with annoying pests like the people?

I have never received a single piece of paper or notification from anyone allegedly representing my interests in Europe. I don't know them, and they don't know me, so I'm not too sure how this representing thingamajig works.

What a shameful state of affairs, given how much it all costs and with Europe making three-quarters of our laws. We pay it 40 million a day, or 13m net depending on whose figures you believe, to make armies of millionaires.

Irrespective of political persuasion, we can all agree the EU is remote, unaccountable, corrupt in parts and presides over waste on an industrial scale. MEPs have voted themselves a 47 per cent pay increase and can claim expenses of up to 1.8m over a five-year term.

In 14 years the EU's accounts have never been signed off because the auditors say they cannot guarantee they are sound. Imagine what fate would await a company and its staff in that position.

Again, many share a legitimate concern that the UK can find itself repeatedly lumbered with inappropriate laws more fitting for economies of a completely different ilk.

Pensions are a good example, as Aon's Oliver Rowlands outlines on page 9. UK pension schemes are labouring under onerous regulations, many of which were hatched in Brussels. Yet the UK pension system, with its low state pension and high reliance on private funding, is very different from most of the rest of Europe, where big state pensions are the norm.

As such, the raft of pensions regulations drafted over the past decade have much less impact not only on EU pensions, but on the rest of their economies. Who was fighting our corner in the parliament? And why did they fail so spectacularly?

On the home loan front, there is talk of banning early repayment charges, rare in much of Europe but common here. We all hate redemption penalties, but without them lenders would charge more. So our mortgages would go up, while the rest of Europe would be unaffected.

Similarly, the EU wants to outlaw 100 per cent mortgages, which are unheard of on the continent. Yet they have long been a facet of the Scottish housing market, where our system of conveyancing requires people to make a financial commitment before they have sold their old home.

They also want to clamp down on flexible mortgages by insisting on full counselling each time any money is advanced. This would stop homeowners who have paid off a good chunk of their loan from drawing it down again.

A recent poll by the Taxpayers Alliance revealed irritation among people of all political persuasions at the many petty rules which are making our lives hell. Some 70 per cent called on Britain to start breaking EU laws, like other countries, which pick and mix the ones they like. This included eight out of ten Conservatives, six out of ten Lib Dems and 65 per cent of Labour supporters. A similar number believe we should refuse to pay any fines for doing so.

Staying out of the euro was Gordon Brown's greatest achievement as Chancellor, and it's hard to see us ever joining, given our volatile housing market. According to the Nationwide, average prices are probably bouncing along the bottom, having risen 1.2 per cent in May to 154,016. This follows March's slight rise, together slowing the fall over the past three months to a less than scary 0.5 per cent.

The Bank of England's slashing of interest rates has helped slam the brakes screeching on that crash. But in Europe, bank rates are double ours (four times those of the US) at 1 per cent, having only just dropped from 1.25 per cent.

Pity the poor Irish, whose interest rates were lower than their economy warranted a couple of years ago, triggering the mother of all destabilising booms, and who are now helpless to save themselves.