The EU’s Bad Boys

From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Wed, 2007-10-10 09:33

Denmark

A quote from EUobserver, 10 October 2007

The Danish discussion on whether to have a referendum on the new EU draft Treaty has taken another twist after the country's main opposition party changed course and called for a political discussion on the issue [...] The opposition leader, social democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt, wants Denmark to enter into a political discussion [...] “We were at no point in doubt that the former draft constitution should be subjected to a referendum. We would like to look at the new treaty and do a similar evaluation” [...]

[Danish Prime Minister] Fogh Rasmussen is meeting with UK prime minister Gordon Brown, who himself is also resisting domestic political pressure for an EU referendum, in London on Wednesday (10 October). Both leaders are keenly aware that a decision to hold a referendum in either country could create a domino effect and put pressure on the other.

So far, only Ireland has said it will definitely have a referendum. The Netherlands – another country where a referendum had been a possibility – recently said it would not have a public poll.

 
Britain

A quote from EUobserver, 9 October 2007

Members of the European scrutiny committee in the [British] House of Commons condemn the "essentially secret drafting process" [during the drawing up of the new EU Treaty] […] [T]he committee argues that the new Reform Treaty – drawn up two years after French and Dutch voters rejected the original EU constitution – is "substantially equivalent" to the [rejected] constitution. [...]

On the Charter of Fundamental Rights which will not apply to the UK, the report notes there is some ambiguity on how this opt-out will work with the European Court of Justice. [...] The committee also questions the role of national parliaments in the legislative process suggesting that although the procedure whereby MPs can criticise proposed EU laws contains "a number of small improvements" the "procedure adds very little by way of democratic control over the Commission and the EU institutions."

 
Poland

A quote from EUobserver, 8 October 2007

France and Germany will this week try and persuade Poland to support the EU's new treaty amid reports that Warsaw is not happy with the latest draft. [...] The move comes after Warsaw let it be known that it is dissatisfied with the treaty compromise […]

@Rzeczpospolita

Submitted by Mike H. on Fri, 2007-10-12 06:48.

I really do hope that you get to vote on it. It sounds too much like Venezuela as it's presently structured. Who gets to play 'ugo?

Unfortunately I'm rather

Submitted by Monarchist on Thu, 2007-10-11 22:05.

Unfortunately I'm rather sure that Poland will sign this damn hidden constitution. Polish government want just withdrawn from fundamental rights chapter. Kaczynski brothers do much of noise for domestic audience but in the end usually accept majority of centralizacionist ideas pushed by Brussels bureaucrats. I hope that they a least do the referendum,  although strangely nobody raised this topic yet. We had planned voting on official constitution project and I except the same with this hidden constitution. 

Belgium interim govt

Submitted by whiteelefant on Thu, 2007-10-11 18:21.

@ markpetens
as far as I know, an interim government, even in Belgium is not supposed to sign such an agreement. But we are talking about Belgium, and if my memory is correct, I have read somewhere that an interim belgian govt had signed a similar far reaching agreement(was it Maastricht?) although they were not legally allowed too (but no Belgian made a fuss about it)... after 9/11 2007 in Brussels I am not surprised by anything here anymore

Referendum in Denmark

Submitted by markpetens on Thu, 2007-10-11 11:12.

With Social Democratic support, there is almost a majority for a referendum it seems. The Danish People's Party will support it for sure, the Conservative People's Party (government party) has also hinted at a referendum. That makes for 89 seats, one short for a majority.

What about Belgium? Can Guy Verhofstadt actually pass the treaty law through parliament when his government is in resignation mode? I doubt a new government is formed soon, news publications notwithstanding.

Sweden another bad boy? And EU rewards immigration with power

Submitted by whiteelefant on Thu, 2007-10-11 09:50.

also on EUObserver:
"Mr Hultengård argued that when dealing with public documents sent to the Swedish authorities from other countries they should be subject to Swedish law and sometimes that clashes with community law."
The Swedes want actually to put their legal system ABOVE the EU?! That's intollerable isn't it?

And on the subject of immigration (also from EUObserver) and Italy's share of MEPs, the EU want to reward immigration with political power:
"Rome particularly opposes the principle under which a country's political weight is based on the number of its residents rather than on the number of its citizens, who have the actual right to elect their MEPs.
It argues that the principle favours countries with higher immigration rates such as France or the UK, with Italian EU affairs minister Emma Bonino describing the idea as "unacceptable" last week."