When he stood as a Liberal candidate in the first-ever European elections in 1979, Phillips declared that the EU was out of touch with ordinary people and needed to become more democratic.  In 2001, he proposed an amendment to the European Communities (Amendment) Bill requesting that the government send a leaflet to every household in the UK, spelling out the impact of the Treaty of Nice, the accord which reformed the institutional structure of the European Union. Phillips had long complained that the government did nothing to explain the complexities of the EU to the public, and claimed it would cost less than £1.4 million to send a two-page tabloid freesheet to all 24.5 million households. He was not arguing for or against the EU or the Treaty, but appealing for a tool to help the public understand them. He voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.