It's 2016 though 
Tragic. Only gives further ammunition to the Brexiteers. The problem with the EU is that it needs less democracy to stop this sort of stupidity but more democracy to satisfy voters.
Thats an ... Interesting interpretation
Yes. The EU needs more trade deals but fewer alienating mandates passed down by civil servants. This is essentially contradictory. Seriously, though, what is the point of the Common Market if you cannot have free trade with anyone else? Canada is as uncontroversial a market as you can possibly get. This essentially imposes a zero-sum choice on its members: "you can either have free trade exclusively within the Common Market or free trade exclusively outside of it".
The smart compromise would be for the EU to form a Bundesrat like chamber elected from national legislatures, which would be asked to reach a consensus as a body; rather than dicking around with every single parliament.
