Letter: How Britain can shape a future Europe

Sir: I would caution you on your idea of what would constitute a democratic Europe. In your Europe of government leaders, where are the elections? Where is the voice of the people?

Far better to give the European Parliament equal legislative power with the Council, and a greater role in appointing and holding to account the Commission. What the people of Europe are used to is parliamentary democracy, where divisions can be on political rather than on purely national lines. The elections to the European Parliament are then the opportunity to resolve debates on a Europe-wide scale, providing a popular mandate for the difficult decisions that surely lie ahead.

This is the federalist vision of Europe: a Europe for everybody, not just for politicians.

RICHARD LAMING

Director, Federal Union

London SW1