Nigel Farage, Co-president of Ind Dem group, UKIP Leader & MEP South East, wrote in the Bulletin from Brussels;
As this parliament reaches the end of its life cycle, we can look back on the successes we have enjoyed in our last five years here. We arrived having won a greater percentage of the vote than the Lib Dems, the best result in our Party's history. We were elected on a mandate to expose and confront the European Union,and,together with our allies from other countries, this is what we have done.

Indeed, our alliance with other parties under the umbrella of IND DEM has been critical. We formed around key principles, such as opposition to the European Constitution and the need for referendums on major constitutional issues. It was clear that the Constitution would be the most significant project the EU would attempt to ram through during this parliamentary life cycle. Indeed, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, its author, claimed it would usher in "The birth of a United States of Europe"

It has been in the fight against this Constitution that we have enjoyed some of our greatest successes. The first came in 2005. With our French colleagues in IND DEM, we played an important part in securing a No vote in France. When the Dutch also voted down the constitution just a few days later, this inflicted another massive defeat on the Euroohile political class, forcing them into a humiliating retreat and 'pause for reflection'. We can take great pride in the key role we played in this.
During the last four years, we saw the British turn to hold rotating EU Presidency. This allowed me to confron Tony Blair to his face about his Europhilia, his signing of the St Malo agreement committing the UK to a European Army and generally put him on the spot. We also confronted several European Commissioners about their business dealings, and allegations of corruption which continue to hang over some, such as the embezzlement charges concerning French Commissioner, Jaques Barrot.
In 2008, the Europhile class decided that thier 'pause for reflection' had come to an end, and set about ramming through their Constitution. They thought that by changing the name to the Lisbon Treaty they could avoid referendums, and thus get the results they wanted from docile career politicians in national assemblies. In light of this arrogance, we felt a line had been crossed,even by the standards of the EU. We felt that a campaign of direct action would be the only appropriate way to counter this. We staged several high profile demonstrations in the parliament in successive sessions. These protests seriously rattled and unnerved the EU authorities,so much so that our MEP's were fined,taff were threatened with arrest and the EU adopted a series of draconian measures to try and counter these peaceful protests.
The highlight of 2008 came in Ireland with the successful No campaign in the Lisbon Treaty referendum. As the only country to actually allow its people a say, we felt the Irish campaign deserved our full attention. A gain, IND DEM infastructure and funding was cruticial to the NO camp, a fact acknowledged by furious Europhile MEP's who attacked our Irish colleague Kathy Sinnott.
Irish premier Brian Cowen said that "Nigel Farage and his extremist friends had subverted Irish Democracy" This victory in Ireland dealt another hammer blow on the Europhile establishment, signalling the third country whose people rejected the treaty/constitution.
In short, the last four years have seen Euroscpeticism enjoy some of its greatest successes. The European constitution was voted down by France and the Netherlands. Coming from two founder members of the EU, the significance of this result should not be over looked.
The Lisbon Treaty was defeated in Ireland, and with it, the Europhile elite suffered yet another hmbling defeat at the hands of the electorate they hold in such contempt. There has been a steady growth of Euroscepticism across Europe, especially amoungst the younger generation, a truly encouraging sign.
Whilst much has been done in the past four years, there is still much to do. The Europhiles continue to try and bully Ireland inot a second referendum, with a possible date as early October 2009 discussed in the media.
The EU continues to claim to speak for Britain in sensitive and dangerous hot spots in the world like the Middle East and the Former Soviet Union. There will be more EU funding of special interest groups with our money. The EU will continue to hamper international trade with its protectionism and inward-looking mentality. The EU will continue its indefensible Common Agricultural and Common Fishing Policies. The EU will continue to harm our relations with the Commonwealth and other traditional allies and partners.
Whilst we can take pride in our achievements in the last five years, we must steel ourselves for the fight to come.
Much Done, Much To Do!!