Italians saw seven changes of prime minister in the 1950s. Compared to such upheaval, Brussels officialdom was not so bad. A Spaniard with memories of Franco, or an Irish voter who grew up with an overbearing church, might even associate it with modernity. In other words, some Europeans welcomed the EU as a kind of deliverance from their ropey national politics. The well-run UK had much less to gain from contracting out its administration to foreigners. As an explanation for British Euroscepticism, this is immensely self-flattering, but it at least lines up with the circumstantial facts.
上世纪50年代的意大利在十年间更换了七任总理。与这样的政局动荡相比，布鲁塞尔的官僚体系不算太糟。仍记得佛朗哥时代的西班牙人，或是在强势教会的阴影下长大的爱尔兰选民，甚至可能会将其与“现代性”联系起来。换言之，一些欧洲人真心欢迎欧盟，视其为摆脱本国蹩脚政治的一条出路。在治理方面素来井井有条的英国，则不太可能从“外包”自身的行政事务获得那么大的收益。作为“英国疑欧主义”的一种解释，这种说法带有强烈的自我恭维色彩，但至少与间接事实是吻合的。