What Has the EU Ever Done for Us?

This an oft-quoted question, but pertinent. Too often the arguments have been negative. This was part of my final summary in the EU debate I was in that seems like an age ago:

I want UK to be at forefront, influencing the direction of the EU and of all of Europe. Personally, with the following list, I don’t trust the UK government to deliver on these things. In fact, they have tried to or shown desires to sign out of many of them.

This is what the EU has given us, and I, for one, want to continue to be a part of this:

• The EU has given us workers’ rights – weekends; paid holidays, maternity and paternity times; rights for agency an temporary workers; right to request flexible working arrangements; health and safety; equal pay legislation; the right not to work more than a 48-hour week without overtime; ; labour protection and enhanced social welfare; smoke-free workplaces.
• Promotion and protection of LGBT rights.
• Air passenger compensation, mobile roaming charges being scrapped.
• structural funding to areas hit by industrial decline; Sustains millions of jobs; single market competition bringing quality improvements and better industrial performance; break up of monopolies.
• Europe-wide patent and copyright protection; no paperwork or customs for exports throughout the single market; price transparency and removal of commission on currency exchanges across the eurozone.
• Freedom to live, work retire anywhere in Europe.
• cheaper air travel; our holidays are easier and safer.
• Greater protection from paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime.
• clean beaches and rivers; cleaner air; lead free petrol; restrictions on landfill dumping; a recycling culture; strongest wildlife protection in the world; improved animal welfare in food production; the banning of animal testing for cosmetics, and the sale of animal tested cosmetics.
• improved consumer protection and food labelling; a ban on growth hormones and other harmful food additives; better product safety; Consumer protection means we are less likely to get ripped off.
• funded opportunities for young people to undertake study or work placements abroad; access to European health services.
• EU-funded research and industrial collaboration which pools resources and gets advancements achieved quicker (think cancer, CERN etc.); EU representation in international forums; bloc EEA negotiation at the WTO; EU diplomatic efforts to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; EU led anti-piracy mission run out of Northwood.
• European arrest warrant; cross border policing to combat human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling; counter terrorism intelligence; European civil and military co-operation in post-conflict zones in Europe and Africa; collective action to sanction Russia over Ukraine.
• support for democracy and human rights across Europe and beyond; investment across Europe contributing to better living standards and educational, social and cultural capital.
• Science funding that has allowed the UK to be at the forefront of world science.

I am an outward looking person who believes the EU is one of the most important instances of political cooperation in the history of mankind. To opt out is to start that great project unraveling until the whole of Europe is a set of selfish nations looking out for their own self interests.

As the world's people seem to be becoming more individualist, so too our politics and nation states.