How is it "expansionism" to allow other countries to join of their own free accord to share in the benefits of the EU?
I agree that corruption (and ineptitude) is endemic within the EU, but as you yourself have admitted, the UK is part and parcel of it. Is simply walking away from it going to fix it, or is that cost simply going to be included in whatever trade deal the UK ends up having to negotiate with the EU?
As for the examples you've given, unfortunately I am not familiar with them, and would appreciate if you could provide a bit more info for me to investigate, as Google isn't very helpful. Is the "cross-border farm" referring to Slab Murphy?
I do not see it as a necessity to negotiate a trade deal with the EU. Talking in purely economic terms, I would have no problem with paying import duties to them for imports from them, and they would have to pay EU duties on imports from us. As we import more than they do, we would gain. But my objections to the EU are not economic, certainly not totally economic, as I have already said. Others who wish to leave might see it differently. That is for them.
The definitions I have found of 'expanionism' do not necessarily include coercion, military or otherwise. But surely you know that the concept of a european state is an underlying objective of the people who control the EU, which group does not include the public at large?
No, walking away from the EU will not fix the corruption in the EU. It might discourage it, but I have exposed so much of it in my career that I woud not bank on it. Even defining corruption some years ago was giving the UN a bit of a headache. As I recall all too often a particular representative would take the line that 'you can't include that: it is part of our culture to do that'. I have lived in countries where corruption was rife, and have been known to ask for my contract to be terminated when it got in the way of achieving the objectives of the project.
You ask for more details. I have to be careful here because of the Official Secrets Act. Slab Murphy was certainly notorious. I was taken to see his farm from a distance, and just doing that provoked a reaction from a hostile individual. I prefer to say no more on that. The moratorium on export certifications from Italy I should not go into as I am not sure if it were ever in the public domain. It was in the public domain that the EU found it necessary to compare aerial views of some fields to verify CAP claims. The mafia was blamed in the Press, but they are always a convenient scapegoat, so I would not know. Other types of goods have been looked at, some from Ireland. CAP on meat products is always difficult, particularly if the meat is frozen. The CAP on a container of meat can be more than the duty on a similar quantity of whisky. Cigarettes at one time were an issue in many areas, with items manufactured say in the UK being exported to among others EU countries that did not have a market within the country for it. Where, within the EU such duties were low, it was clear that the local customs staff were not in the mind to worry about the UK position. Illicit imports from the Canary Islands, which was in the EU but outside the fiscal union, was a bit of a problem at one time. I cannot elaborate on that as I was involved officially. But the press reported that the trade raised the point with the Chancellor of the time.
