mr president thirty years ago the countries of let us call it old europe the fifteen member states of the eu as it stood prior to the enlargement to the ex-comecon countries accounted for thirty-six of world gdp
today that figure is twenty-five and in ten years time it is scheduled to be fifteen
now why is this happening
we cannot put it all down to the rise of asia
the share of world gdp occupied by canada and the us has remained fairly steady over the same period
the truth is that we have burdened ourselves with higher taxes with more restrictive regulations with more intrusive regulators and licences and inspectors and bureaucrats and clerks
it may have made sense when the main competition was coming from within this continent
it makes no sense in a world where we are competing with china and india
all the more reason for your constituents and mine to raise their eyes to further horizons to abandon this cramped and dwindling regional customs union and to rediscover the global vocation which our fathers took for granted
