ANY development of the European Union is bound by the rule of subsidiarty, which states that all decisions should be made at the appropriate level.

This means that local councils make decisions that only affect the areas which they control.

National governments make decisions that affect the country as a whole and the EU makes decisions that member states agree cover all the members.

Local councils may decide to make traffic-free zones. National governments decide on national speed limits and in the EU all countries agree on the rights of disabled travellers. These examples indicate the way the EU has to work and if it does not work this way it can be taken to task through the courts.

The aim of the EU is to have a bigger role for national parliaments with greater transparency of what it can and cannot do. There is no aim to have a European superstate that would infringe the duty to ensure subsidiarity. As measure of this situation, the European Commission has to take into account regional and local effects of proposed actions. The EU is working for the benefit of British citizens – not against.

Bill Morehead, Darlington.