Democratic Unionist Party MEP Jim Allister has today claimed that further integration into the European Union’s structures would be disastrous for the United Kingdom’s economic sustainability and future prosperity. Jim believes that the European Commission’s own figures show that the “one size fits all” economic sphere planned by the Euro-federalists would destroy the UK’s competitive edge and hinder economic growth.

Jim Allister said, “The European Commission’s own publications admit that economic failure and decline has been a near constant feature of the EU as integration increases. Despite the much heralded economic goals contained in the Lisbon Agenda of 2000, the authors of the recently published “Building Our Common Future” publication have been forced to admit that since 1995 the economic growth rate for the EU, which stands at 2.2% has lagged considerably behind that of the United States of America which stands at 3.2% per annum, and even the global average of 3.6%.

Rather than giving way to the compelling logic of these figures which demonstrate that a conglomerate economic set-up foisted on diverse economic markets does not work, the European Commission appears to have thrown logic out the window. Their recipe is for an expansion of the conglomerate system and more centralised, Brussels control.

It is no accident that “Building our Common Future” refers to “political direction” emanating from Brussels proceeding to “effective economic governance”. Bearing in mind the EU’s disastrous record of economic performance, the notion of “effective economic governance” from Brussels should fill everyone in this country with a sense of dread.

The quickening of EU integration coupled with expansion looks likely to cost the United Kingdom additional billons in terms of membership fees of the failing EU club. The European Commission’s publication has stated that “a very substantial increase of financing capabilities at EU level” will be expected. We have therefore reached the bizarre point at which further integration will damage our economic prosperity and we will, in turn, be expected to pay increasing amounts for it, especially with the addition of the ten new member-states. For the United Kingdom this is a lose-lose scenario”.