Events and Research| The Bruges Group spearheads the intellectual battle against the notion of "ever–closer Union" in Europe and, above all, against British involvement in a single European state.
The Single Market and British Withdrawal
Click here to read the full analysis  NEXT MEETING Thursday, 24th March 2011 ADMISSION: £10 payable on the door or in advance To purchase your ticket visit: WITH THE SPEAKERS Peter Oborne LOCATION: AGENDA: BRUGES GROUP DVD OFFER
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European Union Power
Click here to read the full analysis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honorary President: The Rt Hon. the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, LG, OM, FRS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For further information contact: | ||||||||||||||||||
The Single Market and British Withdrawal
Parliament, the EU and National Sovereignty
Bruges Group DVD offer
European Union Power
The EC Customs Union dates to 1957. The Single European Act came into effect in 1992 and superimposed on the Customs Union a costly, tightly-regulated, supposedly harmonised internal market: the Single Market. The outsourcing to Brussels of the regulation of all the City’s financial markets, the Social Chapter, the Working Time Directive, Health and Safety and Tax Harmonisation: all are part of the pursuit of the Single Market.
Peter Oborne is a British journalist and political commentator. He is the author of The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class. He is particularly known for acerbic commentary on the hypocrisy and apparent mendacity of contemporary politicians; especially the misuse of MP's allowances.
Bill Cash is the Member for Stone and was Shadow Attorney General from 2001 to 2003. He is the Chairman of the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee. He was also Chairman of the Conservative Backbench Committee of European Affairs 1988-91. In advance of what became the Maastricht Intergovernmental Conference Bill declined a Government position in 1991, choosing instead to orchestrate opposition to the Maastricht Treaty and founding the Maastricht Referendum Campaign. Bill was voted Parliamentary Campaigner of the Year 1991 by an independent panel of journalists.
Purchase your DVD of the Bruges Group’s 2010 Conference, held in the Great Hall of King’s College London.
James Sale FRSA is a recognised world expert on motivation. He is also a major contributor to the influential blog site: www.businessandpolitics.org. James talked on how British dynamic energy comes from autonomy and freedom - with creativity! As such we should leave the restrictive EU.
Jon Gaunt is an award winning radio and TV personality and national newspaper columnist who is well known for his outspoken views and his ability to speak for the man in the street. He is also the author of Best of British. Jon believes in the absolute right of every British citizen to have their say on the EU which is why he is adamant that the UK must get a referendum on the EU.
Caroline Boin works on environment and development issues for the International Policy Network. She has co-authored a series of publications on accountability such as Fake Aid, A Closer Union and Friends of the EU. Caroline talked about how the EU funding of green groups is further undermining accountability and democracy and how the EU’s “green agenda” is harming the interests of developing countries.
Roland Vaubel is Professor of Economics at the University of Mannheim, Germany. As well as writing for the Bruges Group he is also the author of the IEA papers The European Institutions as an Interest Group: The Dynamics of Ever Closer Union (2009) and The Centralisation of Western Europe (1995). Professor Vaubel’s talk was titled EU Financial Market Regulation: A Strategy of Raising Rivals’ Costs.
Alexander Deane is a Barrister and the Director of Big Brother Watch. He is a World Universities Debating Champion and the author of two books, including The Great Abdication. Under Alex’s direction, Big Brother Watch has produced researched reports on CCTV cameras, the DNA database, covert surveillance by councils and the right of local officials to enter private property. He regularly appears on national radio and television. Alex talked about the EU’s surveillance culture.
Jeremy Nieboer is a lawyer who specialises in corporate and commercial law. He was the lead solicitor on the applications to the High Court and Court of Appeal for judicial review of the then Foreign Secretary’s (Douglas Hurd) decision to ratify the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. Jeremy spoke on the costs of the EU’s environmental policies.
Steven Woolfe is the General Counsel at Boyer Allan Investment Management. He is also the founder of the Hedge Fund Lawyers Association. Steven is one of the City’s most formidable campaigners against the EU’s regulation of financial services, which threatens the long term prosperity of the City of London and, by extension, the London and UK economies.
Dr Richard Wellings is Deputy Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs. He is the author of several papers and reports examining economic policy issues from a free-market perspective. A longstanding Eurosceptic, Richard worked as an election agent for the Referendum Party during the campaign of 1997. More recently, he edited the IEA monograph, The European Institutions as an Interest Group: The Dynamics of Ever-Closer Union, which was published in 2009. Richard discussed how the institutions of the European Union are damaging the economy.
Hugo van Randwyck has researched the various relationships that Britain can have with other European countries once we are outside of the EU. Areas that he has studied include bi-lateral trade agreements with the EU, the European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Hugo presented the case for Britain joining EFTA and discussed the practicalities of joining.
This paper examines the nature of democracy and goes back to the fundamental principles, concepts and values which create democratic legitimacy and finds through analysis of the European Union that the EU cannot be described as a democratically legitimate organisation.
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