East Dartmoor U3A (University of the Third Age)

Where did the EU come from?

At the end of the 2nd World War, Winston Churchill called for the establishment of a United States of Europe. He then busied himself with the British Empire and Britain’s role as a world power. It was left to France to provide the leadership in finding ways to bring the European states ever-closer together. The European Iron and Steel community was formed in 1951 and the European Investment Fund in 1955. Being invited to the Rome conference in 1957 to discuss the momentous creation of the European Economic Commission, the Foreign office advised that we should not participate; the conference would probably fail or if the EEC was formed then it would come to nothing.

Britain joined in 1973 and has been playing catch-up ever since.

So what is the EU? Jacques Delors called it an unidentified political object. To be precise however, it is a non-military alliance tied together by impenetrable treaties and operating through a complex web of institutions including the Commission, the Council of Ministers, the Committee of the Regions, the Committee of Permanent Representatives, the Economic and Social Committee, the Court of Justice, the European Parliament and the European Bank.

It is certainly not a superpower. It spends about 1% of the combined GNPs of the Member States. The US federal government by comparison spends some 30%. The EU employs around 25,000 people, less than the City of Birmingham or about the same as the Home Office. About a third of the EU staff are translators and interpreters.

But the EU may turn out to be the wonder of the world. Its accumulation of 27 member states with a population of 495m has been achieved, not by conquest, but by voluntary adhesion. It is inspired, by respect for the rule of law, the ideals of liberal democracy, social justice, the rights of the individual, and sustained by the economics of a large internal market. Where will it end? Join the study group to find out!

Objectives of the Study Group

We have all spent most of our lives trying to understand the geography, history, economics, society, politics and government of the United Kingdom. But now we face the challenge of relating to and updating our knowledge of the much larger entity which is the European Union of 27 member states. The challenge is intimidating. We Brits comprise only 12% of the population of the new entity. We can’t readily bone up on the geography, history, economics, society, politics and government of the remaining 88%. Even so, we should grapple with this knowledge since the EU may well become more and more important to us.

Our next objective should be to find out about this new EU and its institutions. What have we signed up to in all those treaties? Why are we so allergic to constitutional issues? Why are we so tolerant of our own muddles and humbug? What can we Brits do to contribute good ideas, good sense, goodwill, energy, savoir faire and cautious optimism to this strange venture?

If you are inclined to think that the EU is a wild goose chase and just jobs for the well paid bureaucrats in Brussels, then think about the economic advantages of membership of a common market of almost half a billion people. Think about the list of terrible problems shaping up in the world. (See the Annexe to the paper for our 33rd meeting on 10 March 2008 which you can open in the page, Topics of our Meetings, in the menu on the left). Try to distinguish between what the UK might be able to do about them on its own and what the EU might be able to achieve with already about eight times the UK’s clout.

Our final, back to earth, objective is to participate in the agreeable U3A social ambience and in doing so keep our grey matter in active working order. If we can make even the tiniest contribution to the grand design of the EU then so much the better.

Could you sign up for that?

Administration

There are about 20 members in the group though most attendances are much lower.

All East Dartmoor U3A members are welcomed at meetings as are also members of other U3As and non-U3A persons interested in the subject. U3A members pay an attendance fee of 50p (non-members £1.00). Non-U3A members will be expected to join the East Dartmoor U3A after a few attendances (Annual Sub. £5.00)

Meetings are usually on the second Monday morning of the month and are held in members homes (often at Bruce MacEacharn’s in Chagford) or in the Moretonhampstead Community Club if larger attendances are expected.

Topics and venues of meetings are confirmed monthly by e-mail sent out, sometimes with supporting papers, by the Group Leader, Bill Oxburgh who will be pleased to give further information. Tel. 01647 440323

We would like to thank Merlin Howse for putting together the website and Wiki bit and making them operational. The site is hosted at: Moretonhampstead.net