Why don't EU voters tell their politicians where to stick their Euro?

By Simon Richards
29th January 2012

From Germany to Greece - and from Finland to France - voters in Euroland are suffering from the disastrous, one-size-fits-all nature of the currency that was foisted on them by EU politicians so intent on their dream of an EU superstate that they chose to ignore economic reality - and the interests of their own people.

It's not as though EU voters have much affection for the currency. In Germany, in particular, the public - with, as usual, more sense than politicians - had been hostile to the Euro from the start. I discovered this, very graphically, when I was in Cologne, doing some Christmas shopping, in 2002, just after the wretched new currency came into being.

The Germans 'do' Christmas better than anyone else and, in particular, their hand-made Christmas tree decorations are second to none. One, in particular, caught my eye, in a shop in the shadow of Cologne's magnificent cathedral; it depicted a little chap with his trousers down, with a 1 Euro coin inserted in what one might politely describe as his derriere.

A shop assistant told me that the craftsmen who made the decorations wanted to demonstrate their contempt for the new currency. It had proved so popular that mine was the last one in stock. It has had pride of place on my Christmas tree ever since.

If so many EU citizens loathe the Euro, why don't they rise up against the dishonest and inept politicians who have brought them such unnecessary hardship?

It's a question I plan to put to Timo Soini, Leader of the True Finns, who is in London this week, speaking at a Freedom Association event. Timo is that rare phenomenon in the EU - a successful Eurosceptic politician who has dared to challenge the cosy consensus of the EU political elite. In the last European "Parliament" elections, he was elected with the highest personal vote share. Last year he achieved a sensational success for his Eurosceptic True Finns, leading them - from nowhere - to third place in Finland's general election.

Timo has just met with the first reverse in his fortunes, failing to get past the first round of the current presidential election in Finland. Yet this setback masks a real victory for his anti-Euro position, as it came about because Paavo Väyrynen, the Centre Party's candidate, stole his anti-Euro clothes to gain votes - in much the same way as David Cameron has stalled UKIP's progress in the polls by his refusal to go along with EU plans to make the City of London finance attempts to rescue the failing Euro.

The problem for most EU voters, is that consensus politics has denied them the opportunity to protest. In Germany, all the main political parties are in favour of the sacred cow of EU integration at any cost. In Spain, despite the ruinously high unemployment the Euro has caused, all parties sing from the same EU-approved hymn sheet. There's a very good reason for this - as professional politicians, they all have their snouts well and truly immersed in the EU trough.