smithy
09-24-2004, 04:54 PM
It's finally started. It looks like the EU Constitution referendum campaign has begun. Blairite magazine The Economist has published a dreary 14-page article about the future of the EU. It features all the usual scaremongering and pro-EU propoganda we've come to expect from the pro-EU lobby.
The magazine warned us that should any of the 11 countries voting on the EU constitution vote no, then the EU could break up. It then goes on to suggest a split could "cause Europe to divide into rival power groups", and it could "threaten the EU's central achievement - peace in Europe".
Oh dear. I thought this tripe had been dispelled years ago. The EU was dreampt up before WW2 by Jean Monnet, a French diplomat. His intention was to create a superstate by stealth (or Euro-creep as we call it now). It had nothing to do with peace. The EU largely claims that is responsible for peace in Europe over the past 50 years. But this is wrong for 2 reasons:
1. There hasn't been peace in Europe in the last 50 years - there have been many wars in Europe in the last 50 years, on the EU's doorstep, where it has looked the other way. It even criticised the Kosovo campaign.
2. If it means peace in western Europe, then this was thanks to NATO (i.e. British & American hardware).
The magazine goes on to warn that one of the core problems of the EU is is that is legitmacy is being crippled by a "lack of popular understanding and enthusiasm".
Another classic line. It's not the EU that's at fault, it's the fault of the ordinary people who are just too stupid to realise how brilliant it is.
To its credit, The Economist's article isn't all glory. It mentions that economically it is falling far behind the growth of America and Asia. In fact, the magazine really means the eurozone is falling behind - those countries not members of the euro have growth on par with the USA.
It looks like the EU Constitution was a creep too far. The EU has only gotten as much power as it has by creep but with the Constitution they've declared their intentions to all and sundry - and it hasn't gone down well. If they'd called it the Treaty of Brussels, there'd have been a fraction of the amount of publicity.
With the EU becoming overt, they've either been ignoring Monnet's lessons of the past, or they've underestimated public support. Easy to do when you're so far away from the people basking in the glory of yourself, as is what happens in Brussels.
Old Europe has had its day. They have stepped too far. And now France-Germany has weakened their power base by letting in the new countries who think like the British. Let's hope this is the start of a new Europe of cooperating nations, and the end of a nation of Europe.
The magazine warned us that should any of the 11 countries voting on the EU constitution vote no, then the EU could break up. It then goes on to suggest a split could "cause Europe to divide into rival power groups", and it could "threaten the EU's central achievement - peace in Europe".
Oh dear. I thought this tripe had been dispelled years ago. The EU was dreampt up before WW2 by Jean Monnet, a French diplomat. His intention was to create a superstate by stealth (or Euro-creep as we call it now). It had nothing to do with peace. The EU largely claims that is responsible for peace in Europe over the past 50 years. But this is wrong for 2 reasons:
1. There hasn't been peace in Europe in the last 50 years - there have been many wars in Europe in the last 50 years, on the EU's doorstep, where it has looked the other way. It even criticised the Kosovo campaign.
2. If it means peace in western Europe, then this was thanks to NATO (i.e. British & American hardware).
The magazine goes on to warn that one of the core problems of the EU is is that is legitmacy is being crippled by a "lack of popular understanding and enthusiasm".
Another classic line. It's not the EU that's at fault, it's the fault of the ordinary people who are just too stupid to realise how brilliant it is.
To its credit, The Economist's article isn't all glory. It mentions that economically it is falling far behind the growth of America and Asia. In fact, the magazine really means the eurozone is falling behind - those countries not members of the euro have growth on par with the USA.
It looks like the EU Constitution was a creep too far. The EU has only gotten as much power as it has by creep but with the Constitution they've declared their intentions to all and sundry - and it hasn't gone down well. If they'd called it the Treaty of Brussels, there'd have been a fraction of the amount of publicity.
With the EU becoming overt, they've either been ignoring Monnet's lessons of the past, or they've underestimated public support. Easy to do when you're so far away from the people basking in the glory of yourself, as is what happens in Brussels.
Old Europe has had its day. They have stepped too far. And now France-Germany has weakened their power base by letting in the new countries who think like the British. Let's hope this is the start of a new Europe of cooperating nations, and the end of a nation of Europe.