#thingsemmamcclarkinsays

#thingselliottsays spoke to Emma McClarkin MEP, this is what she had to say. The video is from the EU museum and is probably less anti-EU than Emma McClarkin would like to show.

Q: Is the timing of the proposed referendum wise considering some businesses are worrying about the uncertainty before 2017?
A: It is never the right time considering that Britain has hesitated for so long on what sort of relationship it wants with the EU. Now is the right time in my opinion because the EU is in crisis and their answer to end it is greater integration. Luckily we are outside the Euro so businesses see us as a safe haven. When the referendum was announced the FTSE went up, the CBI also backs the Conservatives policy for the British people to have a say. We, unlike Europe, are still competitive despite our many failings because of our strategic position near the continent making us ideal for international trade.

Q: Why are the Commission the only group able to initiate legislation?
A: I hate this right and the way it is named. This is certainly wrong. There is a huge democratic deficit in the EU. We are only allowed to tinker with legislation in the EU which is totally wrong. We must accept all the proposed Commissioners that the Commission itself thinks should run the union as they are elected jointly. This often means that inefficient and incompetent people are appointed, although we did manage to stop a Bulgarian lady who had explicit links to the MAFIA. The fact is that the Commissioners are in their ivory towers protecting their own jobs. The EU exists to fund several thousand people’s extravagant lives and they do not care what they do for it to happen.

Q: How do you think David Cameron will renegotiate with the EU?
A: This will be the hardest job in the world. Cameron must choose the areas he wishes to reform carefully. It would be best for him to ask Barroso why we should remain in the EU, because despite the Commission trying to show Britain as a problem child they need our money to exist?

Q: Has the EU moved from a trading zone to a protectionist racket?
A: The Commission keeps sending out directives made legitimate by saying these are necessary to complete the single market. I ask why they haven’t done this already. The Commission would rather focus on politically based discussion than discuss trade. It seems they do not want external trade at all. The New Zealand ambassador asked me whether the UK and his own country could reduce their trade barriers and was amazed to discover that we have no control and that any negotiation takes years, if at all happening. It is amazing that they trade more with South East Asia than England considering our very close links.