The video above is a very good entry by the Taxpayers' Alliance in the Campaign for an Independent Britain's Film Festival. The CIB have put together a competition for videos making a point – seriously or humourously – against the EU. Fittingly, they seem to allow entries from across Europe: it always cheers me up to remember that there are people in every country in the EU who are also trying to get out. In the Rebecca Black era (don't ask), it's a great idea that we need to see more of.
Competition between governments is a good thing, and like Adam Smith's conspiring tradesmen, whenever our leaders meet together it's likely that they're conspiring against the rest of us. And for what it's worth, I doubt the EU can survive the current crisis in any significant form.
Some of that is to be mourned. Free trade and free movement of people are great things, and if the EU makes it harder for British politicians to throw up barriers to those things, that's a big point in the EU's favour. But I'm not convinced that that's what's really going on. Sure, I can move to Spain without much hassle, but for someone outside the EU to come in is a lot tougher. The same goes for trade – free trade within Europe is fine, but that's not what's going to matter in the 21st Century if it means cutting ourselves off from China, India and the rest of the globe. Open borders with Europe are great, but not if it means we have to cut ourselves off from everywhere else. After all, there's a whole world out there.