Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

Democratic Legitimacy and Accountability in the EU: Discussion (Resumed) with Foundation for European Progressive Studies

3:40 pm

Mr. David Kitching:

I will begin with the question on the UK. The United Kingdom’s relationship with continental Europe has historically been complicated. If one goes to the root of discourse over national identity, Britain has historically defined itself in opposition to continental Europe up until the past 100 years or so. That tendency still exists. One thing that worries me about the current development of the UKIP narrative on the idea of British independence is how short-sighted it is. The demographics do not quite hold up in the sense that people who adopt the UKIP angle on issues with which it concerns itself, namely, euroscepticism, immigration and certain types of welfare, tend to be more towards the older end of the scale. That indicates that younger Britons are less eurosceptic. They are less concerned about-----