Jake's View | Hindsight will show that the Brits have done the right thing by exiting the EU
The European project has been adrift of its own rules
Last Thursday, in the course of a single day, 17.4 million British people tore up the foreign and economic policies that have been crafted over half a century. In the cold light of Friday morning few had yet realised the extent of the self-inflicted harm done in the course of 24 hours.
David Dodwell
Back to Business, June 27
I disagree with you on this one, David. What I have in mind is 24 years, not 24 hours, and the self-inflicted harm done on the other side of the Channel.
It is now 24 years since the countries of the European Union signed the Maastricht Treaty, the key provision of which is that member countries are obligated to restrain their government debt to no more than 60 per cent of gross domestic product and their fiscal deficits to no more than 3 per cent of GDP.
The trouble with the EU is that it doesn’t listen to its own people and doesn’t obey its own rules
The latest figure for average government debt to GDP across the EU, however, is 90.7 per cent. It has never been less than 65 per cent since Maastricht and some members still run much higher ratios, for instance Greece -179, Italy -133, Portugal - 129, Belgium -106, Spain - 99, France - 96.