5 Common Arguments against the EU.

I decided to write this article after debating with several people and organisations that seemed incredibly happy to purposely spread misinformation about the European Union. I don't have a problem with a proper debate on the UK's future in the European Union and future reform but I do have a strong issue with people spreading lies.

1. The European Union is so full of corruption and fraud that the Auditors have not passed the budget in over ten years!

The European Court of Auditors have deemed successive EU budgets to be free from major fraud and corruption with a majority of wrongful spending being blamed on a poor understanding of current legislation rather then fraud or waste. In addition to highlighting mispent funds the Court of Auditors also make valuable recommendations on how to reduce this erroneous spending in the future.

2. So why do people think that the Auditors have not passed a budget?

Whilst the European Court of Auditors have reviewed and passed successive EU budgets they have not been able to issue a declaration of assurance, why? Well this is because the auditors need to account for 100 percent of the EU's budget. An impossible task when you consider that a simple mistake on the part of a member state results in a failure of assurance.

3. Our government has surrendered control of our flood defences to the EU.

Somehow the European Union has managed to receive flak for the recent poor response to the horrific floods in the South West. EU Directive 2007/60/EC is blamed for this however it just requires all member states to assess rivers/coastal areas to determine if they are at risk of flooding and take appropriate action to ensure that does not happen. In the case of the United Kingdom it should ensure that flood risks are reduced across the country whilst allowing coordination between countries inside the European Union that share rivers at risk of overflowing like Germany and The Netherlands.

4. EU quotas have killed the British fishing industry.

It is true that the British fishing industry has declined steadily over the past few years but decades of over-fishing are to blame for the decline. EU quotas are an attempt to reverse damage inflicted upon European fish stocks from years of overfishing and future reforms aim to ensure the continued survival of several key species and the long-term prosperity of the industry.

5. The United Kingdom should leave the European Union and join EFTA. We'd get the benefits of free trade without having to follow regulation.

As a member of EFTA the United Kingdom would still have to pay a fee and follow a majority of EU regulation, it would just have no say on the make-up of these regulations. EFTA membership is considerably less democratic then EU membership.