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Originally Posted by Chris
Your argument is a non sequitur.
The position that the UK is at a disadvantage when it withdraws from the fundamental structures of the EU is untenable. We know it to be so, because we are not in the Euro and none of the supposed catastrophes which were made in the late 1990s, and which are being made again now, have come to pass.
You seem to suggest that a keenness to make free trade deals demonstrates that your argument is valid but I can see no logical connection between the two (please offer one!). Remember though that free trade deals are negotiated for us by the EU, so British keenness on such deals is neither here nor there. It certainly doesn't demonstrate that we're working harder to counteract the supposed disadvantages of being in the EU.
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I am saying that the Euro and free trade deals aren't the same thing. The drawbacks of the Euro do not apply to free trade deals and the fact that the arguments for the Euro were proven wrong doesn't mean that the arguments for the single market are also wrong. You're the one making the connection between the two, I think they're separate issues.
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And yes, trade policy. Though I'm not sure your example is a good advert for EU trade policy. How many years has the EU existed, and it is only just getting around to forging a deal with the biggest economy on earth? I like to think that we can do better, as our national instinct is not to regulate as heavily as the EU is prone to. I'm confident that we can get trade deals in place with all the countries that matter, reasonably quickly. As for population size, that is less important than the size of the economy. The UK has the 6th largest economy in the world and the 2nd largest in Europe. In fact, the EU will have a problem of its own, touting the size and desirability of 'its' economy to potential trade partners, if the UK's GDP isn't there to make its figures look rosy.
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The EU would have problems but so would we. Europe has a whole is more attractive to the US and than any one part of it.