50 reasons to love Europe?

As the EU celebrates its anniversary, The Independent looked at 50 benefits it has brought - see below. The list is a timely reminder of the importance of the union as a forum for international co-operation, but it hides the reality - its goals often conflict with one another and recent polls show a growing number of EU citizens believe that it is an irrelevance which, if anything, has made their lives worse, not better.

As the EU celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, it’s clear that it must resolve the tension between its economic and environmental policies by placing a new Big Idea at its heart if it is to reconnect with the half a billion Europeans it exists to serve.

Greens see that idea must be sustainability, and delivering climate security – in line with the global crisis we face and the wishes of voters across the EU. Green MEP Caroline Lucas has issued an ‘Alternative Berlin Declaration’ which aims to replace EU aims of ever-more free trade and competition with the objective of sustainability, and making its work more democratic and accountable to voters. She said:

“The EU is remote from Europe’s citizens, who are rightly mistrustful of its lack of democracy, links with big business and obsession with enhancing free trade and competitiveness. The EU has enormous potential to spread peace, freedom and security in and around Europe, and to promote and protect democracy and human rights at home and throughout the world. It has the potential to be a pioneer in the transition to low carbon economies, and in living more lightly on the planet. But to fully achieve this potential, it has to change direction, and to put democracy and sustainability - rather than trade liberalisation and the single market - at the heart of its objectives. We need a strong EU – but one that is democratically accountable and focused on tackling the challenges that Europe’s citizens care about most: climate change, social injustice, conflict, resource depletion and fractured local communities.”

The Independent's 50 reasons:

1 The end of war between European nations
2 Democracy is now flourishing in 27 countries
3 Once-poor countries, such as Ireland, Greece and Portugal, are prospering
4 The creation of the world's largest internal trading market
5 Unparalleled rights for European consumers
6 Co-operation on continent-wide immigration policy
7 Co-operation on crime, through Europol
8 Laws that make it easier for British people to buy property in Europe
9 Cleaner beaches and rivers throughout Europe
10 Four weeks statutory paid holiday a year for workers in Europe
11 No death penalty (it is incompatible with EU membership)
12 Competition from privatised companies means cheaper phone calls
13 Small EU bureaucracy (24,000 employees, fewer than the BBC)
14 Making the French eat British beef again
15 Minority languages, such as Irish, Welsh and Catalan recognised and protected
16 Europe is helping to save the planet with regulatory cuts in CO2
17 One currency from Bantry to Berlin (but not Britain)
18 Europe-wide travel bans on tyrants such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe
19 The EU gives twice as much aid to developing countries as the United States
20 Strict safety standards for cars, buses and aircraft
21 Free medical help for tourists
22 EU peacekeepers operate in trouble spots throughout the world
23 Europe's single market has brought cheap flights to the masses, and new prosperity for forgotten cities
24 Introduction of pet passports
25 It now takes only 2 hrs 35 mins from London to Paris by Eurostar
26 Prospect of EU membership has forced modernisation on Turkey
27 Shopping without frontiers gives consumers more power to shape markets
28 Cheap travel and study programmes means greater mobility for Europe's youth
29 Food labelling is much clearer
30 No tiresome border checks (apart from in the UK)
31 Compensation for passengers suffering air delays
32 Strict ban on animal testing for the cosmetic industry
33 Greater protection for Europe's wildlife
34 Regional development fund has aided the deprived parts of Britain
35 European driving licences recognised across the EU
36 Britons now feel a lot less insular
37 Europe's bananas remain bent, despite sceptics' fears
38 Strong economic growth - greater than the United States last year
39 Single market has brought the best continental footballers to Britain
40 Human rights legislation has protected the rights of the individual
41 European Parliament provides democratic checks on all EU laws
42 EU gives more, not less, sovereignty to nation states
43 Maturing EU is a proper counterweight to the power of US and China
44 European immigration has boosted the British economy
45 Europeans are increasingly multilingual - except Britons, who are less so
46 Europe has set Britain an example how properly to fund a national health service
47 British restaurants now much more cosmopolitan
48 Total mobility for career professionals in Europe
49 Europe has revolutionised British attitudes to food and cooking
50 Lists like this drive the Eurosceptics mad