EU still acts as 'big brother' to smaller nations

As the euro sinks gently lower and William Hague's Sterling for Britain wagon trundles round county towns glad-handing disenchanted farmers, truck drivers, widget manufacturers and car plant workers, the pro-Europe lobby face an uphill battle to convince the public of the merits of joining the single currency and the EU economic block. Opinion polls show Britons increasingly reluctant to sign up to rule from Brussels, but while the UK disdains membership of the Euro club, countries from Eastern and Central Europe are straining every last sinew to claim first EU membership, followed by the ...