It could take British exit for EU to wake up

In the 1980s I was a big fan of Europe. The EU Commission came across as a strident advocate of competition, open markets and progressive economics.

It was stuffed full of Irish graduates who appeared as bright as buttons. Commissioners like Jacques Delors and Peter Sutherland fought tough and sustained battles to liberalise various European markets to stimulate true competition and consumer choice.

They fought walls of vested interests, backed by narrow political forces that preferred Europe with invisible but real borders designed to protect local interests.