Secret Squirrel, Im with you all the way on this one! I am in favour of a Federal Europe from the West Coast of Ireland to the Urals, modeled on the US system with each State such as Britain, France, Italy, etc being able to retain as much of its domestic laws, culture and practices as possible. I was born in 1953 so had no part in the two terrible European wars of the first half of the last century but salute the former Common Market, now the EU, for its role on preventing further internecine strife in Western Europe.
The world is resolving into 3 or 4 great politico-economic groups and I see a United Europe as one of these against the NAFTA based Greater America, and the Far Eastern Bloc of Japan, China, and the Pacific Nations, with perhaps the Arabs and Africa being the forth. I certainly am fed up with Britain being "the USA's kid brother" in a "special relationship" which suits the USA more than the UK. Europe, at least the French part, can be seen from England on a good day, (visit Dover), the USA is a good few thousand miles away.
Its time we ditched the chauvinism and flag waving and accepted the fact that we are not the great world power we once were and stop being the dog in the manger in a European Context.
I would agree with the contrary opinions on one point. In exchange for a unified currency, common passports etc, we should have English as the Official European Common language as it is spoken the world over and used in many professions and occupations which is more than can be said with all due respect to those peoples for French or German.
(I put on my flack jacket and tin hat and wait for the abuse from the Little Englanders)