Commission Calls for New Powers for Brussels

From the desk of The Brussels Journal on Tue, 2008-05-06 17:13

A quote from Der Spiegel, 5 May 2008

The EU's monetary affairs commissioner has called for far-reaching new powers for the European Commission. He would like Brussels to have greater control over economic policy in euro zone countries – and even wants its members to speak with one voice on the international stage. […] [EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia] says the Commission should also have a hand in determining “adequate wage developments, flexibility and security on labor markets.”

@ dethule

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Sat, 2008-05-10 18:59.

Agreed. For centuries before all this EU nonsense started, we had perfectly adequate trading arrangements with the Germans for instance and vice-versa. Now, it feels like we are being forced into a damned 'Anschluss' with them.

Playing the percentage game

Submitted by Atlanticist911 on Thu, 2008-05-08 22:31.

If dethule is correct, and somewhere in the region of 84% of laws have been forged (i.e. fashioned for fraudulent purposes) in Brussels, this is  sufficient grounds for the dissolution of the EU. If Armor is correct, and the EU doesn't have much power at all, what's the point of remaining a member of such a powerless entity?

 

btw: I am NOT anti-European. I am pro-British, pro-American and anti- EU.

To my mind, stripping the EU

Submitted by dethule on Sat, 2008-05-10 18:44.

To my mind, stripping the EU of all its legal powers and thereby returning to its original notion (a common European market) would suffice.

84% of laws forged in Brussels

Submitted by Armor on Thu, 2008-05-08 21:51.

"With on average more than 84 per cent of laws being forged by Brussels"

I wonder how that figure was obtained. I don't think it is a meaningful estimation. Everyone expects that the success of the Lega Nord and the election of Berlusconi will make a difference. It wouldn't make any difference if everything was decided in Brussels. The french government announced this week it had been decided that France would allow 9000 immigrants from Tunisia every year. It was a decision made by Sarkozy and has nothing to do with the EU. The EU doesn't decide the budget policy of European countries. It has no power over their education policies and the way their media is organized and controlled by the governments. In fact, it doesn't look like the EU has much power at all.
I think in the recent years, the EU has developped a leftist agenda. It may have encouraged the English to become even more virulent against the EU, and many Americans tend to trust the English and have become critical of the EU too. But in fact, the English have always been anti-European, even before the EU became a leftist institution.

It seems very odd to me

Submitted by dethule on Wed, 2008-05-07 20:08.

It seems very odd to me that, seemingly, nobody really cares about the powers the EU has already swallowed up. With on average more than 84 per cent of laws being forged by Brussels, demanding that more be transfered is but a hoax.