Why has the EU become a Popperian tyranny?

   Moody's negative outlook announced today for the credit ratings for the supposed most prosperous EU northern national economies, even including Germany, MUST mark an EU crisis turning point.

   Many years ago this blogger proposed that the Swiss Constitution provided an ideal blue print for a democratic grouping of Europe's nations wishing to form a closer trading union. That was ignored. The years in between have been wasted.

    My recording of a question to Debating Europe for some EU Presidents and perhaps EU Commissioners, at a planned public debate for next October, reflects that shameful reality and is pasted at the foot of this posting.

    The Swiss Confederation recognises four languages, the strong autonomy of its Cantons - co-incidentally numbering roughly the same number as EU member states, its strong direct democracy with protections for specific linguistic and cantonal sensibilities, a guiding star chamber of seven ministers at confederate level, a federal parliament, provisions for regular constitutional changes, plus the longest history of democracy within Europe all combine to make it the perfect blue-print for an EU Constitution!

   Temporary modifications could be established for an interim emergency EU arrangement, prior to establishing a full EU Constitution subject to individual national referendums contemplating exclusion in the event of a NO vote.

   The only alternative this blogger can foresee is widespread fragmentation during and after years of economic decline across the EU, not necessarily within former national boundaries, with all the well known risks of such an occurence as Europe's troubled history has demonstrated over and over again.

 

EU Commissioners are both culpable and incompetent!

Can anybody ever recall a single EU Commissioner who seemed capable in their job?

Can anybody recall an EU Commissioner who seemed quailified for the position to which they were appointed?

Can any not recall that down the decades, EU Commissioners have been scoffed at for being the dregs of their national political classes, capable only of wining and dining and growing fat, and all too often bloated, as they screwed every centime they could from the EU taxpayers for their often own tax-free benefit!.

Are there any citizens across the EU that would seriously consider inviting one of these smug, self-satisfied troughers into their homes?

It is not therefore surprising that Italian interest rates for their ten year bonds have risen above 7% again this morning, the level for which an elected Prime Minister was removed from his post to be replaced by one of these former leeches!

The EU is Europe's problem, no solution will ever be found within its structures, institutions let alone its self-serving personnel!

If somebody has a name of a present or former EU Commissioner that they consider is worthy of some respect, e-mail their name to me and I will include it below, with their justification. I doubt I will be kept very busy while performing such a task.

Plans afoot to break Nice Treaty Rules on EU Commission

A move to break the Nice Treaty provisions regarding the formation of the next EU Commission in an attempt to get the non-ratified Lisbon Treaty to prevail has been long expected and is now underway, read here. Once again we have proof that there is no ploy nor illegality to which the EU will not stoop to override the stated will of the people of Europe. The article amazingly enough has the nerve to state the following: “If the Commission is invested before 31 October, according to the treaty, its mandate is five years. So the EU would be stuck with a small, Nice, Commission for five years,” said a senior official, adding: “This would not honour the promise to the Irish that each member state is guaranteed a commissioner.” This senior official is apparently content to now state that the EU would for five years be " stuck with a small Nice Commission" yet streamlining the Commission was the principle raison d'etre for the Laeken convention and resulting Constitutional Treaty! How devious can warped minds become?

Gordon Brown's continuing lies

Thanks to Guido Fawkes blog for this video link, please watch! While on the topic of the despicable filth at the top of the British political process and the corruption of the EU take a look at this link!

Latest Irish proposals breaches Lisbon's provisions

Details of how the unscrupulous EU plans to illegally break the Lisbon Treaty to try to bribe the Irish into a second referendum giving the "correct" result are published by the political editor of the Irish Independent in his newspaper this morning, linked here. I have posted on what IS and what IS NOT possible under the terms of Lisbon and Nice regarding Commissioners, which summaries are linked here , here and most importantly HERE. Ireland cannot have a permanent EU Commissioner under the terms of an unamended Lisbon Treaty although such is perfectly legal and feasible under the terms of the Nice Treaty which continues as the latest enforceable EU Treaty.

Monkey business over EU Commissioners

The TFEU after Lisbon is quite clear on the numbers of Commissioners as follows: ==================================== SECTION 4 THE COMMISSION Article 244 In accordance with Article 17(5) of the Treaty on European Union, the members of the Commission shall be chosen on the basis of a system of rotation established unanimously by the European Council and on the basis of the following principles: (a) Member States shall be treated on a strictly equal footing as regards determination of the sequence of, and the time spent by, their nationals as members of the Commission; consequently, the difference between the total number of terms of office held by nationals of any given pair of Member States may never be more than one; (b) subject to point (a), each successive Commission shall be so composed as to reflect satisfactorily the demographic and geographical range of all the Member States. ===================================== How then can Vincent Brown in an article in the Irish Times today state the following: However, while the Lisbon Treaty states that the number of commissioners shall be 18 or no more than two-thirds of the number of member states, it gives the European Council the discretion to decide otherwise. So the European Council could decide that henceforth, if the Lisbon Treaty is passed, there shall be a commissioner from each member state. So the shape of a possible deal with the Irish could be as follows: that the European Council, at its meeting in October or December, gives a solemn undertaking that if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by every member state, including Ireland, it will exercise its discretion to have one commissioner for every member state. This would meet the objections of some people in Ireland to the Lisbon Treaty, perhaps a sufficient number of Irish voters. The suggestion is that the European Council can immediately and deliberately override a specific clause in the TFEU, that Commissioners post 2014 be selected on a basis of rotation, permanent members one from each member state cannot possibly be deemed to be rotating therefore the intent of the Treaty, as ratified by Parliaments all across the EU is immediately trashed. If this happens Lisbon effectively means the rule of law is finished within the EU post Lisbon. Will the Irish really agree to that? Let us remember that much of the claimed raison d'etre for the Constitutional/Reform/Lisbon process was the streamlining of the EU Commission. Will this bunch of crooks and shysters really stop at nothing to get this terrible Treaty through?

Nice and Lisbon on Commissioners

The question of Ireland's situation under Nice versus Lisbon on having its own Commissioner seems to be becoming a live issue. What say the Treaties? The facts provided by the EU itself, linked and quoted below, clearly show the Irish will be much more likely to retain a Commissioner under the terms of Nice, which following their referendum now remains in force. As Nice requires unanimity on the number of Commissioners which are to be less than the total number of the 27 member states Ireland can quite sensibly insist those terms are met if in future Malta and Cyprus alternate one Commissioner. No such option appears to be possible under the Lisbon Treaty which requires a reduction to 18. NICE (From EU link here)

Article 4 of the Protocol on the enlargement of the European Union, annexed to the Treaty of Nice, specifies that as of 1 January 2005 the Commission shall include only one national of each of the Member States. The Treaty of Accession, signed in Athens on 16 April 2003, amended this provision because the new Commission will take up its duties on 1 November 2004 and will include, as stipulated, one national of each Member State.

The Protocol on enlargement also provides that, when the EU consists of 27 Member States, the number of Members of the Commission shall be less than the number of Member States. The exact number of Members of the Commission is to be set by the Council, acting unanimously, and Members will be chosen according to a rotation system based on the principle of equality, the implementing arrangements for which are to be adopted by the Council, acting unanimously and in accordance with the following principles:

• Member States shall be treated on a strictly equal footing as regards determination of the sequence of, and the time spent by, their nationals as Members of the Commission; under no circumstances may the Commission include two Members of the same nationality;
• each successive college shall be so composed as to reflect satisfactorily the demographic and geographical range of all the Member States of the Union.

This rotation system will apply as from the date on which the first Commission following the date of accession of the 27th Member State of the Union takes up its duties (i.e. in principle as of November 2009). In other words, the Commission which will take up its duties in 2004 will therefore be extended to include one national of each country which has joined the Union by that time.

LISBON (From EU link here)

European Commission

Its main job is promoting the European public interest. The new treaty reduces the number of Commissioners - from 2014, only two thirds of member countries will have a Commissioner (e.g. with 27 countries, there would be 18 Commissioners), but the posts will rotate between all countries. The number of Commissioners can also be changed by the European Council (by unanimous vote).

In another major change, there will be a direct link between the results of the European elections and the choice of candidate for president of the Commission. (Ed. - This bit was news to me!!)

The president will also be stronger, as he/she will have the power to dismiss fellow Commissioners.