"Foreword" [2017] ELECD 568; in Hervey, K. Tamara; Young, A. Calum; Bishop, E. Louise (eds), "Research Handbook on EU Health Law and Policy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) xi

Book Title: Research Handbook on EU Health Law and Policy

Editor(s): Hervey, K. Tamara; Young, A. Calum; Bishop, E. Louise

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785364716

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Foreword


No one, following the events of early 2016, can be in any doubt of the need
for a book that explains important aspects of European Union policy.
The United Kingdom engaged in a debate on its relationship with Europe
that revealed a profound degree of ignorance of all things European. One
might have thought that those senior politicians who had been attend-
ing European meetings for years might have acquired at least some basic
understanding of the institutions with which they were engaging. Sadly
not. Indeed, the lack of understanding of Brussels was so profound that
one wondered if there might still be some British politicians wandering
through the streets of Brussels, having given up in their search for the
Berlaymont years previously and now simply desperate to find the Gare de
Midi and a train to take them home.
Nor were the British people served well by the media. Their newspapers
continued to pour out hatred aimed at anyone foreign, oblivious to the fact
that most were owned by fantastically rich individuals whose commitment
to the UK did not extend to living there or paying taxes in it. It was dif-
ficult to ascertain whether their stories reflected ignorance or dishonesty,
although their reluctance to correct the most blatant lies suggests the latter.
The BBC was little better, showing that it was possible for journalists to
ascend to the highest levels of political reporting without any clear com-
prehension of how the EU worked. When one said that " ...