Europe: Perception & Illusion Richard Griffiths Director | Food Policy Europe: Perception & Illusion

Or...what have the Romans ever done for us?

–Monty Python's Life of Brian "All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health..." –Monty Python's Life of Brian

So, should we be in Europe?

The Benefits Common (good?) practice Greater resources Knowledge exchange Open market Access to labour More competitive v. third countries

In other words...

UK v. EU Legislation EU UK ... Food Hygiene Marketing Labelling Animal welfare Animal health Transport Environment Trade ...and so on ... Planning (sort of) Taxation

Perception no.1 380,000 100+ 70% £540 million

Perception no.2 6,076,200,000 99.994% 1 in 2 £1.7 billion

Campylobacter Is the UK isolated? Does the rest of Europe care? Does it reflect our standards or a USP? What about the rest of the world? Protectionist or self-limiting?

So, why do we persist?

Closed Borders? If we accept the argument for Europe can we limit third countries?

Today Europe, Tomorrow The World

The Benefits (part 2) Critical mass to maintain subjective standards (or more muscle!)

Does 'British' have a future?

We can't afford not to be...

Thank You