[British exit from EU 2016/17!!!!!]

So what you are saying is that to do business with Europe, a country must be in political union with Europe.

Not sure that the American's will sign up to that when they set up a trade deal with the EU ;-)

[British exit from EU 2016/17!!!!!]

The expats in Europe (as I have been for 27 years myself) would see no change in their status. Do you think that the French would throw out all the Brits and London would send all the 100,000s of French currently in the UK back to France? Once out of Europe, immigration will not stop. It will just be controlled by each country under their own policies, as of course it should be.

The real question that needs to be asked by all Europeans is the following - " Do I wish my country to continue to exist as a nation state or would I prefer it to be a region of Europe under the control of Brussels?". The stated aim of the EU is to suppress the nation state. The choice is clear enough - what is your preference?