The commission is an overly powerful un-elected mass of technocrats spewing incomprehensible diktats from on high. What portions of it are elected are just stuffed to the gills with second class politicians who should never get a crack in a national government as evidenced by young Nicholas.
Even if that weren't true the Euro seems to evidence the impossibility of the kind of union we have to date. Staying close to Europe right now would cost larger more fiscally sound states a lot of cash.
But at the same time we sit here bemoaning our position as it is. The British have been telling ourselves that we are a deflating power on the world stage for 60 years now. We love saying it for some reason.
The UK are sometimes like a strange boy who stands up at the party to loudly announce that he isn't cool enough to be there anymore. He then spends the next 60 years stood in the doorway switching between telling other people what music to play and saying that he'll leave in a minute.
However, deflating we probably are, (the oil, coal and fracked gas won't last forever)... Over the next decade staying away from Europe might save us a great deal of pain. But I can't help but wonder what happens after that.
The BRIC economies rise up and start playing some awful Drum & Bass and the UK is still stood in the doorway asking them to please play just one Smiths track.
They won't anymore.
But weirdly the Belgians have managed to slip on a (frankly worse) 20 minute jazz bassoon solo.... Because the EU got through a very rough 10 years and came out of it a much closer federal block which actually wields a fair bit of power. In a global market that power counts for a lot.
I'm not saying it will definitely happen. Perhaps the EU will disintegrate in bickering or worse hang together in an unreformed bickering mess. But I am saying that if it does happen we'll be sending some poor bugger of a prime minister to Brussels to beg to be let back in and I expect the initial (and possibly permanent) response will be the same as last time.
