June 21, 2007
Ticket to the European party
The haggling that goes on before every European summit is legendary. I’m not referring to all the talk of red lines by posturing leaders but the procuring by those lower down the pecking order of a pass into the Justus Lipsius centre where it all takes place, with its free flow of drink, food and, most of all, gossip.
Members of the European parliament are particularly keen to see their status recognised with the prestigious pass to feed off the crumbs at the top table. Each political group gets just one ticket. So Andrew Duff, the British Liberal who lives and breathes the constitution from every pore, will be left with his nose pressed against the glass while Graham Watson, his esteemed leader, prowls the corridors of power.
There are ways and means of getting round it. The eurosceptic Independence and Democracy group has found places for its two co-leaders. Jens-Peter Bonde, the veteran Dane, sneaked in as a journalist. That allows Nigel Farage, the voice of British obstructionism, to do what he does best, knocking back the beers with hacks at the bar and providing soundbites about Tony Blair’s duplicity.
Nothing could more annoy the UK Conservatives, who are stuck on the outside. They also want a referendum on any treaty and would love to bend but as members of the European People’s party are represented by Joseph Daul, a French farmer who backs greater integration.
Aides to Timothy Kirkhope, the Tory European leader, were left yesterday afternoon desperately lobbying for a badge as vice-chairman of the constitutional affairs committee to avoid this debacle.
There was also haggling up the road at Meise, the Belgian botanical gardens north of Brussels. Europe’s centre-right leaders traditionally meet in a chateau there to co-ordinate their line ahead of summits. Since they include Angela Merkel of Germany, broker of the treaty talks, Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, it is an influential line.
More important was the presence of Jan Peter Balkenende, premier of the Netherlands, whose people helped torpedo the original treaty. He was given a good going over and came out saying it was better to have a deal now rather than later.
For the pro-treaty Just a shame the other leader of the awkward squad, Poland, was not represented. “The big problem is the Poles are outside the group, otherwise we could have sorted all this out beforehand,” sighed one attendee.
David Cameron, the British Conservative leader, who wants out of the EPP, declined to show yet again. He did not even send his , former leader William Hague. He was holding his own mini-summit in London with Mr Kirkhope. A taste of things to come?
The Liberals, meanwhile, were enjoying their final lunch in the splendour of the Belgian prime minister’s residence at their pre-summit chat. Guy Verhofstadt was overwhelmingly rejected by voters this month after eight years and will soon be packing his bags. Or perhaps not. “The way Belgian coalition talks go, he could still be there at the next summit,” cracked one guest.
“EU: AN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT, CONSENSUALLY ALIGNED-’EQUAL-NATIONS’, NOT A SUPER-STATE, FORGED BY THE SURREPTITIOUS AMALGAMATION OF THE EU’S PEOPLES”!!!”
The concept of an EU of politically AMALGAMATED PEOPLES was never part of the agreed-to propositions that led to its formation as the European Economic Community (EEC), in the 1950’s.
The main motivations behind the formation of the EEC were so that this “association of economically & socially aligned, INDEPENDENT nations” would, by its structure, be an obstacle against repeats of the worst facets of the continent’s history: damaging competition; ego-driven militarism & costly, destructive wars.
It was also to enable a concurrent, joint approach to development of member nations’ economies, their underpinning legal principles & social/health programmes.
The misguided development of a ‘European Parliament’ several decades later, predictably- now in 2007- has led to calls (from an intellectually dishonest few) for individual EU member nations to lose their paramount-status as “comparative equals” in the EU’s voting systems: Commission; Council of Ministers; & committees, to be subsumed BY A POPULATION-BASED SYSTEM, in which medium sized & smaller EU member nations’ voices + their potential influence over ALL types of EU decision making: will be rendered nonexistent.
The primacy of individual EU member nations needs to remain a principle underpinning ALL EU structures, esp its super-state-in-waiting parliament.
How to fix the EU parliament??
- Much, much smaller.
- EU mp’s should not be elected, due to the dangerous inherently oppositional relationship this creates between EU member nations’ governments & the EU parliament…
- Instead, EU mp’s ought to be appointed by the govt-of-the-day of their respective nations.
NEW EU PRESIDENT POSITION: A TRAP!!
In order to coordinate the implementation, alignment and evaluation of policies, laws & standards among EU member nations- a 2 & 1/2 year-long term president IS NOT REQUIRED!!
If the current rotating 6 month EU president position is replaced with a 2 &1/2 year long position-> it can only be a matter of time before there are suggestions raised to have the position elected by an EU-wide election process… and after that a reduction & scrapping of the Council of Ministers-> the only remaining venue where EU member nations have any sort of legitimate ability to fully participate in policy/law decision making…
EU FOREIGN MINISTER POSITION: A SURRENDER OF MEMBER NATIONS’ INTEGRITY!!
EU member nations losing their ability to opt out of EU foreign policy positions- as the creation of an EU Foreign Minister would eventually mandate- will serve to destroy the check & balance system that EU member nations can & do play against each other, under the present EU model.
EU member nations going further in integration, (as the rejected, so called EU Constitution would have mandated, or, as some of those who support further EU expansion are alleging: ‘that further EU expansion would demand further integration of member states’) will, through the back door, result in the EU functionally ceasing to be a “European community” of equal nations & would result in the EU becoming an amalgamated unitary state…
The EU?s member nations need to remain aligned- TO VARYING & FLEXIBLE DEGREES- economically, legally & socially, as part of a passively outward looking association.
The world as a whole needs an EU of ‘independent’, but
willingly-aligned-for-good-purposes nations-> not an ego-motivated ’super-state’, in which many of the EU’s member nations are effectively rendered to fodder for the international agenda’s of a minority, & forced to participate in & contribute to purposes/projects that their peoples may be adverse to.
Roderick V. Louis
Posted by: Roderick V. Louis | June 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 am | Report this commentVancouver, BC, Canada,
rvlouis@patientempowermentsociety.com
“EU: AN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT, CONSENSUALLY ALIGNED-’EQUAL-NATIONS’, NOT A SUPER-STATE, FORGED BY THE SURREPTITIOUS AMALGAMATION OF THE EU’S PEOPLES”!!!”
The concept of an EU of politically AMALGAMATED PEOPLES was never part of the agreed-to propositions that led to its formation as the European Economic Community (EEC), in the 1950’s.
The main motivations behind the formation of the EEC were so that this “association of economically & socially aligned, INDEPENDENT nations” would, by its structure, be an obstacle against repeats of the worst facets of the continent’s history: damaging competition; ego-driven militarism & costly, destructive wars.
It was also to enable a concurrent, joint approach to development of member nations’ economies, their underpinning legal principles & social/health programmes.
The misguided development of a ‘European Parliament’ several decades later, predictably- now in 2007- has led to calls (from an intellectually dishonest few) for individual EU member nations to lose their paramount-status as “comparative equals” in the EU’s voting systems: Commission; Council of Ministers; & committees, to be subsumed BY A POPULATION-BASED SYSTEM, in which medium sized & smaller EU member nations’ voices + their potential influence over ALL types of EU decision making: will be rendered nonexistent.
The primacy of individual EU member nations needs to remain a principle underpinning ALL EU structures, esp its super-state-in-waiting parliament.
How to fix the EU parliament??
- Much, much smaller.
- EU mp’s should not be elected, due to the dangerous inherently oppositional relationship this creates between EU member nations’ governments & the EU parliament…
- Instead, EU mp’s ought to be appointed by the govt-of-the-day of their respective nations.
NEW EU PRESIDENT POSITION: A TRAP!!
In order to coordinate the implementation, alignment and evaluation of policies, laws & standards among EU member nations- a 2 & 1/2 year-long term president IS NOT REQUIRED!!
If the current rotating 6 month EU president position is replaced with a 2 &1/2 year long position-> it can only be a matter of time before there are suggestions raised to have the position elected by an EU-wide election process… and after that a reduction & scrapping of the Council of Ministers-> the only remaining venue where EU member nations have any sort of legitimate ability to fully participate in policy/law decision making…
EU FOREIGN MINISTER POSITION: A SURRENDER OF MEMBER NATIONS’ INTEGRITY!!
EU member nations losing their ability to opt out of EU foreign policy positions- as the creation of an EU Foreign Minister would eventually mandate- will serve to destroy the check & balance system that EU member nations can & do play against each other, under the present EU model.
EU member nations going further in integration, (as the rejected, so called EU Constitution would have mandated, or, as some of those who support further EU expansion are alleging: ‘that further EU expansion would demand further integration of member states’) will, through the back door, result in the EU functionally ceasing to be a “European community” of equal nations & would result in the EU becoming an amalgamated unitary state…
The EU?s member nations need to remain aligned- TO VARYING & FLEXIBLE DEGREES- economically, legally & socially, as part of a passively outward looking association.
The world as a whole needs an EU of ‘independent’, but
willingly-aligned-for-good-purposes nations-> not an ego-motivated ’super-state’, in which many of the EU’s member nations are effectively rendered to fodder for the international agenda’s of a minority, & forced to participate in & contribute to purposes/projects that their peoples may be adverse to.
Roderick V. Louis
Posted by: Roderick V. Louis | June 22nd, 2007 at 5:42 am | Report this commentVancouver, BC, Canada,
rvlouis@patientempowermentsociety.com
“EU: AN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT, CONSENSUALLY ALIGNED-’EQUAL-NATIONS’, NOT A SUPER-STATE, FORGED BY THE SURREPTITIOUS AMALGAMATION OF THE EU’S PEOPLES”!!!”
The concept of an EU of politically AMALGAMATED PEOPLES was never part of the agreed-to propositions that led to its formation as the European Economic Community (EEC), in the 1950’s.
The main motivations behind the formation of the EEC were so that this “association of economically & socially aligned, INDEPENDENT nations” would, by its structure, be an obstacle against repeats of the worst facets of the continent’s history: damaging competition; ego-driven militarism & costly, destructive wars.
It was also to enable a concurrent, joint approach to development of member nations’ economies, their underpinning legal principles & social/health programmes.
The misguided development of a ‘European Parliament’ several decades later, predictably- now in 2007- has led to calls (from an intellectually dishonest few) for individual EU member nations to lose their paramount-status as “comparative equals” in the EU’s voting systems: Commission; Council of Ministers; & committees, to be subsumed BY A POPULATION-BASED SYSTEM, in which medium sized & smaller EU member nations’ voices + their potential influence over ALL types of EU decision making: will be rendered nonexistent.
The primacy of individual EU member nations needs to remain a principle underpinning ALL EU structures, esp its super-state-in-waiting parliament.
How to fix the EU parliament??
- Much, much smaller.
- EU mp’s should not be elected, due to the dangerous inherently oppositional relationship this creates between EU member nations’ governments & the EU parliament…
- Instead, EU mp’s ought to be appointed by the govt-of-the-day of their respective nations.
NEW EU PRESIDENT POSITION: A TRAP!!
In order to coordinate the implementation, alignment and evaluation of policies, laws & standards among EU member nations- a 2 & 1/2 year-long term president IS NOT REQUIRED!!
If the current rotating 6 month EU president position is replaced with a 2 &1/2 year long position-> it can only be a matter of time before there are suggestions raised to have the position elected by an EU-wide election process… and after that a reduction & scrapping of the Council of Ministers-> the only remaining venue where EU member nations have any sort of legitimate ability to fully participate in policy/law decision making…
EU FOREIGN MINISTER POSITION: A SURRENDER OF MEMBER NATIONS’ INTEGRITY!!
EU member nations losing their ability to opt out of EU foreign policy positions- as the creation of an EU Foreign Minister would eventually mandate- will serve to destroy the check & balance system that EU member nations can & do play against each other, under the present EU model.
EU member nations going further in integration, (as the rejected, so called EU Constitution would have mandated, or, as some of those who support further EU expansion are alleging: ‘that further EU expansion would demand further integration of member states’) will, through the back door, result in the EU functionally ceasing to be a “European community” of equal nations & would result in the EU becoming an amalgamated unitary state…
The EU?s member nations need to remain aligned- TO VARYING & FLEXIBLE DEGREES- economically, legally & socially, as part of a passively outward looking association.
The world as a whole needs an EU of ‘independent’, but
willingly-aligned-for-good-purposes nations-> not an ego-motivated ’super-state’, in which many of the EU’s member nations are effectively rendered to fodder for the international agenda’s of a minority, & forced to participate in & contribute to purposes/projects that their peoples may be adverse to.
Roderick V. Louis
Posted by: Roderick V. Louis | June 22nd, 2007 at 5:43 am | Report this commentVancouver, BC, Canada,
rvlouis@patientempowermentsociety.com
No one is going to take your blog seriously until you get a better anti-spam system and, preferably, limit the possible length of comments. I might add that the author of the original blog post should learn the art of paragraph spacing…
Posted by: Badger | June 22nd, 2007 at 11:12 am | Report this commentInteresting - a rare example of where not having their own group in the EP actually does seem to harm the Tories. Having said that, no one will listen to the MEPs at the Summit anyway…
A shame about Cameron. But I suppose this is in line with his policy, outlines of which are apparent in his opinion piece in the Torygraph today. He seems to want to ignore the treaty and focus on other issues like climate change.
Not sure that isn’t a line that won’t come back to haunt him, since you can’t very well argue for EU reform and reject any and all new treaties a priori as he is doing.
Posted by: Chris Sherwood | June 22nd, 2007 at 11:44 am | Report this comment