Better Off Out

From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Mon, 2007-06-18 12:51

A quote from Lord Rees-Mogg in The (London) Times, 18 June 2007

This week Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, will propose at the European summit in Berlin a new draft treaty of amendment that will contain most of the legal substance of the constitutional treaty, […] At the summit Britain will be represented by Tony Blair, who has said that he does not think that the new treaty will require a referendum. He has therefore withdrawn from his commitment to the Labour Party manifesto, on which he was elected.

[Blair’s designated successor Gordon Brown] is not in control of this week’s negotiations, because Mr Blair has outstayed his welcome. […] Any treaty along the lines of Mrs Merkel’s draft could trigger a fundamental rethinking of British policy. Like many other of Europe’s electorates, the British want to get back powers to their own democracy. In the constitutional treaty itself every change moved power away from national democracy towards the bureaucratic centre.

Such a Europe could not be made to function in a competitive world. The British electorate, if not our politicians, might feel they would be better off out of such a federalised Europe, dominated by the Franco-German alliance.

Nonsense ..

Submitted by Schaveiger on Mon, 2007-06-18 16:20.

An extracted quote: "The merger of the European
institutions had taken place as far back as 1967. There has never been a
referendum on joining the European Union. That body was created only in
1993, under the Maastricht treaty."

The question is: how many referenda were taken since on the change of British laws ?. When did they hold a referendum on the "Terrorist law" issue,  not speaking about the number of video cameras (even hidden in bins).

But maybe all this was imposed by Brussels too. With populistic pub-talk like this it's indeed better for GB to quit.

I can (and do) complain about domestic problems

Submitted by MarkE on Tue, 2007-06-19 10:38.

Unfortunately Schaveiger knows little about British democracy. When faced with a parish council bye law I don't like I can cross the road and speak to my parish councillor; if it is a district council matter I walk half a mile to my district councillor's shop and speak to him; if it has come from Westminster I can attend my MP's regular surgery in the town centre (he visits regularly even though he actually lives 60+ miles away in Notting Hill). There is no need for referenda as there is a formal mechanism in place to allow my voice to be clearly heard. Unfortunately this will change soon when we get a Prime Minister who's constituents are unaffected by the laws his government may pass; a change that should have been ratified by a referendum.

If I have a problem with an EU measure I could raise it with one of ten MEPs "representing" me, but only by email or post because they hold no local surgeries, and as MEPs their power seems very limited (although that may be them being too weak to argue with me; "I'm sorry we have no authority over that" is easier than "I disagree and will therefore do nothing about it"). Much of the power wielded by the EU seems to be vested in the commission and I have no way of contacting the failed British politicians rewarded for past loyalty with a nomination (something friends and colleagues assure me applies equally to France and the Netherlands).

Can you really MarkE ?

Submitted by Schaveiger on Tue, 2007-06-19 18:42.

You're right I'm not much acquainted with British democracy. However, what bothers me is that Eurosceptics are always pinpointing matters which are worser in their homeland . I just wanted to explain that they're claiming for referendums when in their country they don't have them. And don't let me believe that the majority in the UK agreed to send troops into Irak.
I just think that the final issue of all this hassle to boycott the EU is well organized by the USA, who is not eager at all to have a stronger political power in the world. Therefore, as they are the UK's stepmother, the latter are somehow rewarded for, to the less, delay the construction of the Union.
As to the loyalty rewards, they exist among political and economic organizations all over the world.

Learn From Roosevelt

Submitted by Amsterdamsky on Mon, 2007-06-18 13:15.

This is how americans got fooled into creating a US superstate and giving up all states rights.  Once the power goes to Brussels (or Washington) it will never come back.