British Public Declare: ‘We Are Not Europeans’

New statistics from the European Commission’s bi-annual Eurobarometer survey confirms the huge cultural divide between Britain and the 27 other EU Member States. A substantial majority of British respondents have declared they do not consider themselves Europeans.

Asked how European they saw themselves, 58 percent of Brits replied they saw themselves just as British and not as European. This compares to the 38 percent average for the same category among the other 27 Member States.

These figures show the EU’s Europeanisation policies have completely failed to make inroads into the strong British national identity. This is largely due to Britain’s long history of fixed borders, clearly defined at by our coastline.  Meanwhile, continental European countries, which have often faced turbulent border changes, have much weaker national identities. Just 20 percent of Luxembourgers, for example, reject the notion they are Europeans.

Another aspect of our cultural differences with continental Europe was touched on in the same Eurobarometer poll – our distrust of centralised and undemocratically accountable power.  Just 26 percent of British respondents to the survey said they trusted the European Union, compared to the EU-wide average of 37 percent.

By comparison, 56 percent of Britons said they trusted the United Nations. This is unsurprising given the far more consensual and open way in which United Nations business is conducted. It goes to show the British people are not against international co-operation, just international coercion.

The Eurobarometer results compliment the recent poll, published in The Sunday Times, which shows the majority of the Great British Public now favour exit from the EU. But the British people aren’t alone in being fed up with Brussels. The Eurobarometer survey shows most respondents in Cyprus and Slovenia also feel their country’s future is brighter outside the EU.

It is clear support for the EU’s relentless campaign to force a federal European super-state onto the people of its Member States is, thankfully, not gaining ground in Britain. But, we must not be complacent and underestimate the will of the Eurocrats for “ever closer union”.

We have always had a strong parliamentary lawmaking process, with the Queen as our head of State. Most other countries in Europe swap their Heads of State and lawmaking rules and regulations with alarming frequency – with the end result some European citizens lean towards a federal cohesion. However, Britain has been a huge global trading success in the past, and we now have the vision to see this again for our future.

As Van Rompuy, the former President of the European Council has said if people don’t want closer union “we do it anyway”. The only way to prevent Britain being sucked into into this EU federal super-state is to vote to Get Britain Out of the EU at our very first opportunity.

Luke Stanley, Research Executive at Get Britain Out.