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Brusselswatch
Belgian surrealism, then and now
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| René Magritte, 1928-9 | |
The European Commission, 2007-8 |
"The good thing about not calling it a Constitution
is that no one can ask for a referendum on it."
Giuliano Amato, Italian Interior Minister
| LATEST NEWS The
EU power game has begun Quote of the week: "Questions
of how far to subsidise one’s farmers or how much to pay for
protecting the rural environment fall naturally to nation states…
it seems strange to demand that the answers should be identical
both for a relatively poor country such as Poland, and a richer
one such as Denmark..." Euro-myth of the week: The
EU must be a good thing since so many countries outside want to
join Site map the EU at a glance |
POLITICIANS'
COMMENTS ON THE "Britain is different. Of course there will be
transfers of sovereignty. But would it be intelligent to draw the
attention of public opinion to the fact?" "The substance of the Constitution is preserved.
That is a fact." "Thankfully they haven't changed the substance
– 90 per cent of it is still there." "Substantially equivalent." "We have not let a single substantial point of
the constitution treaty go… It is, without a doubt, much more
than a treaty. This is a project of foundational character, a treaty
for a new Europe.” "Only cosmetic changes have been made and the
basic document remains the same." "It's essentially the same proposal as the old
Constitution." "There's nothing from the original institutional
package that has been changed." "... all the symbolic elements are gone, and
that which really matters – the core – is left." "All the earlier proposals will be in the new
text, but they will be hidden and disguised in some way... the proposals
in the original constitutional treaty are practically unchanged.
They have simply been dispersed through old treaties in the form
of amendments. Why this subtle change? Above all, to head off any
threat of referenda by avoiding any form of constitutional vocabulary." “[The Lisbon Treaty is] more profound and far-reaching
than anything else in the EU’s 50 year history... A lot of
people are talking about a new epoch.” "The passarelle clauses concerning several policy
areas... would allow changes to the Constitution without another
ratification process." "We will put it to the British people in a referendum." "Patently dishonest... neither honest nor coherent." So how is the new treaty different? Those changes in full |
Brusselswatch believes:
- that the Lisbon Treaty is practically identical to the supposedly abandoned European Constitution (as many European politicians have confirmed) and that its return under another name is an appalling breach of promise
- that the Lisbon Treaty will mean a far greater (and more permanent) change to Britain than any change of government – yet if any change of government took place without a popular vote, there would (quite rightly) be rioting in the streets
- that the European Union is a fundamentally undemocratic organisation as its only democratically elected element, the European Parliament, is no more than window dressing without real power to hold the numerous unelected EU bodies to account
- that all transfers of power from elected national governments to the EU therefore involve a loss of democracy, as power passes from elected representatives to unelected fonctionnaires, and that this, rather than international cooperation, is the real raison d'être of the EU
- that there is no inherent benefit in forcing 27 vastly different countries to adopt identical solutions to every problem
- that the benefit of free trade between the nations of Europe could be achieved without the EU , that non-EU countries can trade freely with the rest of the world without falling foul of the EU's external tariff barrier, and that even on the European Commission's own figures the EU costs businesses four times as much as the single market saves them
- that the Common Agricultural Policy is major factor in Third World poverty
- that it is undemocratic to treat "yes" votes in referenda as binding for all time but "no" votes as a temporary inconvenience, to be overcome by making the people vote again
- that when the EU has an unelected President, as the Lisbon Treaty mandates, it will have absolutely no credibility when criticising other countries for being undemocratic
- that the trend in every EU body is towards Qualified Majority Voting in areas that formerly required unanimity, meaning that member states could be forced to accept measures that harm their interests, and that the notorious "passerelle" clauses in the Lisbon Treaty allow for yet more policy areas to adopt QMV without the need for another treaty
- that EU standards of accounting would be considered unacceptable (and probably criminal) even in a small family-run business, with auditors now having refused to sign off on the EU's accounts for 13 years running
- that the nations of Europe will always, without the need for compulsion, adopt policies that have been shown to work elsewhere, and that the EU forcing member states to harmonise their laws often leads not to the spread of best practice but to the replication of disastrous mistakes
- that the exchange of power between member states and the EU should be two-way, allowing national governments to repatriate powers if they choose to do so
- that Britain pays far more into the EU budget than it gets back, and in any case EU money is spent in Britain to suit the EU's priorities (especially for self-publicity) rather than Britain's
- that the EU (and national governments acting at its behest) should not be allowed to spend taxpayers' money on pro-EU propaganda, especially that directed at children
- that the EU is the most pressing issue of domestic politics, as it dictates 84% of all new laws in its member states
- that the EU would be far more unpopular if the true extent of its interference in national politics were widely known (instead of which the EU plasters its flag over anything that might be popular, while leaving national governments to carry the can for legislation they have been forced by the EU to introduce)
- that the misguided tactic of sacrificing Britain's interests in order to "influence the EU from within" has failed as the EU continues to get worse in every measurable way – waste, fraud, the expenses regime, the CAP, the over-regulation of Europe's businesses, the persecution of whistleblowers etc.
Brusselswatch aims to provide information so that people can make an informed choice, and to counter the massive amount of pro-EU propaganda on which the EU and national governments so lavishly spend taxpayers’ money (see manufacturing consent and funded by the EU for more details).
| "The
idea that there is some hidden agenda to destroy national identity
in the EU is one of the most common scare stories peddled by the
Eurosceptics." |
"This
is a big change from the basic concept of nation states. It’s
a change of centuries of history.” |
Brusselswatch is not affiliated with any political party or pressure group, though it supports organisations campaigning for democracy and self-determination throughout Europe (see links page). Although written primarily from a British perspective, much of this site will be equally relevant to citizens of other European countries, whose politicians are ignoring their wishes in the rush towards closer European integration.
"Why do you not bestir yourselves, why do you allow
these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret,
of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing
at all will be left... Do not forget that every people deserves the regime
it is willing to endure!"
Leaflets produced by the White Rose anti-Nazi resistance group,
written by Hans and Sophie Scholl