I spent time recently at the European Congress of Local Governments in Krakow, Poland. The majority of delegates were from the Eastern side of Europe and this gave a fascinating slant to the conversation.

I was struck by two things. First, that discussion of the EU was overwhelmingly positive. It was seen as a vehicle for positive change in a way that wouldn't be true in the UK, but would also be more ambivalent across much of western Europe. Second, that faith in the technocratic power of (local) government to achieve solutions was relatively undiminished.