Remain - Something Positive for a change!

I am going to move away from the project fear of the remain campaign and start talking about the positives of remaining in the EU.

Over recent years all the member states have started to push back against the laws brought in by the EU Government. At one point it was obligatory for EU laws to be implemented by member states. That was of course ridiculous because laws are not a 'one size fits all'. Laws are created by countries who come across issue and then try to creating legislation and laws to try and prevent or fix the problem at hand. That means that every single member state is going to have completely different laws in certain aspects.

Thankfully that is no longer the case and Member States are able to not implement the EU legislation. All that is required is for the government to categorically state that the particular EU law does not apply to the UK. (what?! seriously?! Its that easy?!) Yes seriously its that easy. The UK government can say that laws do not apply to the UK.

There however are some exceptions to this but nothing that is particularly relevant to the debate. As an example the laws governing trading standards are not something the UK Government could refuse to implement unless the UK were to stop trading with the EU. The reason I said that it is not relevant to the debate is because no matter what happens on the 23rd of June the UK will still trade with Europe and therefore we will still have to apply the EU trade laws.

So this really raises a big question. Why has the government allowed so many EU laws to be implemented?

There are several answers to this question! Firstly A lot of the EU laws passed down either fill a gap that was missing in the UKs law or add to current laws in place. Many of the EU laws actually benefit the UK (for an example look at TUPE). And it has to be said that some laws have just not been challenged by the UK government probably because it was easier for them to just let it happen.
So the real argument we should be making is not in or out but why has the UK Government not been fighting hard enough for the UK people?

With the push back against all this legislation from member states in recent years the EU is becoming a much easier place to achieve common goals with out sacrificing sovereignty.

Remain For Science Sake!

Being as involved as I am am with a wide variety of scientists the message I keep hearing is remain! 

Currently science gains huge sums of funding from the EU for thousands of different projects across Europe. But money is not the only thing that matters. In fact that is only a small part of the reason many scientists want us to remain in the EU.

One key benefit of remaining in Europe is the collaboration and  coordination of research projects, biodiversity projects, renewable energy research..... the list goes on. If on the 23 June we make the unwise decision to leave we will no longer have access to this pool of knowledge and support. Working in partnership with other science organisations is vital for the UK to keep up with rapidly changing  technologies. 

Putting aside technology for a moment, when it comes to our natural habitats and all the research that has been done in partnership with EU Member states we will loose our ability to  proactively manage and protect our countryside. Working in partnership with EU countries also gives us the opportunity to make a difference to all of Europe's countryside by passing on our knowledge and skills. With out the ability to draw down knowledge from other countries and share our own experience we will damage the future proofing of our natural heritage.