LATE last month, my wife and I took a weekend off to visit friends in Spain. We flew with a cheap airline from Manchester. Scores of other families were doing the same, and there was not a spare seat to be had either going out or coming back.

Sitting on that aircraft made me think of how different things were 10 years ago. Then, the big airlines had a monopoly and prices were sky-high. Only the rich could afford the short breaks that many of us ordinary folk now enjoy.

It was the EU that opened up the skies of Europe, and gave birth to the no-frills, budget airlines. Similarly, it was the European single market that made it possible for the friends we were visiting to buy property in Spain.

What is more, because of the EU they get medical treatment there and enjoy their full British pension entitlements. Often that is not possible for people retiring outside the EU.

That weekend away underlined for me the practical benefits of Britain's EU membership. It also made the work we do in the European Parliament seem even more worthwhile.

The new one that has just been elected is the most exciting I have known in the 15 years I have served as an MEP.

What struck me immediately was the influx of 162 new MEPs from the 10 countries that joined the EU in May this year. They all bring great enthusiasm, energy and fresh thinking to the many formidable challenges now facing the EU.

We need to speed up economic reform to enable Europe to successfully compete with the new Asian tiger economies of China and India, but by the same token, we must safeguard public services and good working conditions.

We need to tackle the environmental problems that increasingly threaten our stability and security. Yet, at the same time, we must not force businesses to close unnecessarily and jobs to be lost.

European laws, too, need to become more streamlined and less bureaucratic. This is a tough agenda, made doubly difficult by a totally outdated decision-making process. A system designed almost 50 years ago for the EU's six founder members, simply cannot operate effectively now with 25 countries on board.

The new European Constitution will give the EU a much simpler and more democratic decision-making structure. We need to approve it. If we don't the EU will be left paralysed and increasingly marginalised, unable to respond to the challenges ahead.

That in turn would place in jeopardy the practical benefits we have gained over the last 30 years from Britain's EU membership -- and so often take for granted.

Like many other people from the Bury area, I want to be able to enjoy more of those pleasant, cheap weekends away in the sun.