Sarkozy's amour propre
The hyper president was hyped up for his news conference at the end of the French presidency of the European Council. The summit he said would "go down in history".
President Sarkozy of France - but for a few days yet not of France alone - had praise for other leaders. Gordon Brown he said was "an extremely constructive European". The Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was "brave". But he saved the strongest praise for, well, himself.
He said, with an enormous grin, that it was obvious the changes that would be introduced by the Lisbon Treaty were needed: especially a full-time president of the Council. "Nobody today would doubt the need for a President of the Council showing real leadership." Pause for an even bigger grin. "Not just for six months, but for two and a half years."
There were of course four big issues to be covered in the news conference. Climate change. Lisbon. The economy. And just how well Mr Sarkozy had done in his six-month presidency.
He said that Europe had to stop getting bogged down in daft rules, and suggested strongly that it would take someone like him to make this advance.
He gave a long example about how he wanted his minister in one of yesterday's meeting but was told the seating arrangements wouldn't allow it. So he suggested bringing in another chair. He was told that wasn't possible, it was revolutionary. So he said he would get the chair himself. It showed that in the EU people could spend hours arguing about an extra chair. He said that Europe needed an injection of flexibility and freedom.
But he went on to complain about the endless repetition of speeches. He said after last night's discussions on the economy over dinner he had banned anyone from trying to repeat themselves this morning. Rather contradicting his earlier remarks, he said "we can't work without specific rules in place". Next week he'll give his final speech of the French Presidency to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. I am sure he will be as modest as ever.
PS - I've run out of green ink again, but will go shopping at the weekend.
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Unfortunately a lack of musical chairs would result in the leaders of well-marketed countries (France, Spain, UK, Germany, et al) dominating the presidency. No thanks.
Until there a Bulgarian has as much chance to get the Presidency and be respected the way a French or a German president would be, I've no interest in being represented by an unremarkable and unceasing succession of dimwitted Western European politicians.
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Leave the green ink on the bargain shelf at Woolies Mark. I'm a eurosceptic but I think you do a good job at being impartial. Of course although I dislike the EU I don't think it's the antichrist so that makes me pro-EU in the eyes of some who post here. No-one is entirely impartial (certainly not me and my fellow sceptics). From your blog it appears you believe certain things are best tackled at a pan-european level but I don't think you're afraid to question the EU, its institutions and the way it operates. I think some think you are biased because you don't tell us the 'obvious' truth about the evil EU. I think most of the professional bloggers on this site are good at explaining things in a largely unbiased manner. Keep up the good work.
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"The hyper president ... President Sarkozy of France ... saved the strongest praise for, well, himself.
He said, with an enormous grin, that it was obvious the changes that would be introduced by the Lisbon Treaty were needed."
It isn't obvious to millions of victims of the "EU".
"Nobody today would doubt the need for a President of the Council showing real leadership. ... Not just for six months, but for two and a half years."
He cannot distinguish between leadership and dictatorship.
Six months of Sarkozy was more than enough.
"Nobody would doubt..." BULLFEATHERS!
Millions of prisoners of the "EU" dictatorship doubt just that.
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Dear President Klaus,
Please save us from this rubbish
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The Times today amusingly mentioned that Angela Merkel has been watching videos of the late Louis de Funes (a manic comic French actor) for clues to understanding the 'ever-agitated' Sarkozy.
Being a de Funes fan myself I should have noted the similarities earlier.
(Louis de Funes can be seen on YouTube).
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Sarko has no interest in the idea that the future Europe be a democratic Europe... How could he? The majority of French citizens are against him and a Federal Europe. He used the European platform to try to create a Europe which will physically support his ideas of a strong Europe, being able to confront other big powers... How will this help, when such a USA of Europe could also have a president like George Bush? Who will confront Europe when it gets so strong??? For me this is all just a question of personal power and Europe is being misused. Will it be the USA of Europe who presses the big red button first, led by a little Napoleon with a power complex?
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Yeah, Sarkosy's pretty fond of himself, but if you consider how active and how constructive he's actions have been, I truly think that he deserve a pad on the back, he's not being pretentious, he was every where, trying to talk to every body to make things better, he tried to make the best out of his measly six month during immensely chaotic times. So no, he's not being pretentious per say, because he did a lot and tried to do a lot more. Bravo Sarko !
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SARKOZYs LAST BANG?
I HOPE!
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How would I represent an EU democratic Irish referendum joke process?
1. N = 1
2. Vote yes or No...
3. If yes... GOTO end
4. If no...
5. Confront Sarko
6. Get more concessions
7. N equals N plus 1.
8. IF N is greater than 2
9. GOTO 1.
10. ELSE
11. GOTO 13.
12. END.
13. Enjoyed while it lasted :-).
14. Independence!
15. END
How would I describe a similar serious British process?
1. Complain.
2. Don't hold a referendum
3. Moan. Moan
4. Creep it through parlament
5. Sing 'god save the Queen'
6. Sack the Primeminister
4. Have it signed by the Queen
5. End.
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Sorry logic error (typical Irish to get it wrong :-) should be..
8. If N is less than 2.
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He has succeeded. The result is that he has plenty of apotheoses. Of panegyrists he has more than Trajan. One thing, however, has struck me, which is, that among all the qualities that have been discovered in him since the 2nd of December, among all the eulogies that have been addressed to him, there is not one word outside of this circle: adroitness, coolness, daring, address, an affair admirably prepared and conducted, moment well chosen, secret well kept, measures well taken. False keys well made?that's the whole story. When these things have been said, all has been said, except a phrase or two about "clemency;"(?)
When one measures the man and finds him so small, and then measures his success, and finds it so enormous, it is impossible that the mind should not experience some surprise. One asks oneself: "How did he do it?"
(?) Shall we judge him by the eight months he has reigned? On the one hand look at his power, and on the other at his acts. What can he do? Everything. What has he done? Nothing. With his unlimited power a man of genius, in eight months, would have changed the whole face of France, of Europe, perhaps. He would not, certainly, have effaced the crime of his starting-point, but he might have covered it. (?)He has taken France and does not know what to do with it. In truth, we are tempted to pity this eunuch struggling with omnipotence.
(?)
Let us do him this justice; he does not remain quiet for an instant; he sees with affright the gloom and solitude around him; people sing who are afraid in the dark, but he keeps moving. He makes a fuss, he goes at everything, he runs after projects; being unable to create, he decrees; he endeavours to mask his nullity; he is perpetual motion; but, alas! the wheel turns in empty space.
Victor Hugo (Napoleon the little)
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#9, #10 Whacked:
I appreciate that I learnt my programming in the last century, before the Y2K threat changed everything, but shouldn't all your "END"s actually be "EXIT"s?? It does make the outcome so much more acceptable!
Interesting that you think that the Irish should have a scientific approach whilst the British rely on a literary one.
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I was just beginning to think that the French presidency was going to sink away unnoticed into the mists of time when along comes this blog to give M. Sarkozy credit for all he has achieved.
.
.
.
And so it does!
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SuffolkBoy2
I too look forward to the upcoming Czech Presidency for the injection of some common sense.
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Can anybody give me an example of how europe is becoming Federal Europe.Or how anybody is a prisoner of the EU.
Since to me heaving read(well some parts) the Lisbon Treaty, i feel it is an important step away from a Federal state and one towards a new form of cooperation.
To the prisoner comment, I think you will find that the EU-laws give the best protection of freedom in the world.
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The "hyper president"?
When did you first stoop to provocation as journalism, Mr Mardell?
This gruesome little frenchman is a laughing stock amongst clowns. He is the smell that came after the Bush, and we wait patiently for the air to clear of him.
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"To the prisoner comment, I think you will find that the EU-laws give the best protection of freedom in the world."
In theory, they are not bad.
In theory.
But the devil is in the detail, and anyone who is familiar with the broader scope of ECJ human rights law is aware of a pattern in the application of human rights law that needs to be examined before one can say the the EU takes human rights seriously.
Specifically, just about every case that uphold PRINCIPLES of human rights law does not apply them "in that particular case". The human rights are "balanced" against the "legitimate economic aims of the treaty" and, in that particular case, and in every particular case, the ECJ decides to find against the interests of the human whose rights are in question. But the principles remain, sacred and untouched in their theoretic perfection.
The other massive, massive issue about the efficacy of ECJ human rights law is with regards to standing.
People must access human rights law through their local court. They do not access to European courts, and therefore they must accept the judgement of their local court unless they spend a truly vast amount of money, and time, appealing until they reach an ECJ referral.
Now in the UK, the courts have been pretty good with regard to enforcing the ECJ principles. But that is in the UK.
The idea that eastern europe is enforcing human rights law is heads in the fridge crazy, and therein lies a big problem for "ever closer union".
Sooner or later someone from the UK will be extradited to a nasty corner of the EU and will die in prison there, for the crime of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.
Then you may see the folly of legal equivalence between complex cultures.
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I hardly thought I should ever turn to support Sarkozy. However, two things have to be said.
First, that he's a man who, if he says he's going to do something, he actually does it (or tries hard to). Unusual in a politician, I know, but his record on this is cast-iron.
Second, he's the sort of guy who rubs many people (OK, including me) up the wrong way: so, he's bound to have enemies.
In France, he takes a hands-on approach to government - which means that he is well on the way to achieving most of his pre-election pledges. Despite opposition from trades unions and those with "special interests".
During his six months of the French presidency of the EU, he not only achieved the majority of tasks he set out to, but he dealt with a few messy crises on the way. OK, you can criticise and carp at the way he did it, or the results he obtained but he did a hell of a lot more than Tony Blair did during his tenure.
NB Sarko also gave the EU bureaucrats a lesson on being less stuffy on protocol, less bureaucratic, and generally being too rigid. In that, he was more in the mould of Mrs Thatcher than his French predecessor.
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#16, 'EU-Xavi' wrote: "Can anybody give me an example of how Europe is becoming Federal Europe..."
One indication might be M. Sarkozy's own initiative for the "Union of the Mediterranean", to incorporate those countries forming the Mediterranean rim and including all the existing EU states. One can argue that Britain has a Mediterranean coastline (Gibraltar) but how can you include, say, Poland or Finland unless there is some federal concept?
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Mrs Sarkozy certainly has my vote.....
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I like that Mr Sarkozy is so passionate about what is right.
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Sarko has one thing going for him, in my opinion, a tasty wife as for the rest, like Gordon Brown, he is just plain nuts and not taking his medication as perscribed !
As to the EU, it is still today what it has always been, a pact between France and Germany not to do a re-run of 1870, 1914-18 or 1939-45 and all the smaller countries keeping their heads down and hoping they don't.
What on earth are we in the UK doing being part of this charade ? Europe is a great place to have one's 'Hols' but you wouldn't bring home 80% of their Laws as a souvenier would you ?
Oh, and for the moderators, of course you won't publish this or anything 'negative' and not totally Lesbian, Left Wing and Politically Correct in all particulars.
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if they pass the Lisbon treaty under the carpet, then no option than anarchy...
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rules of the game are that the treaty cannot pass because of Irish NO.. otherwise EU elites are taking great responsibilities of what may happen.
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I do not like too much hyper politicians, but maybe in this case it can be useful for European people to have this man around.
I mean that it's clear that Mr. Sarkozy wants to be the "European President", the first one if it's possible... personally I think that ending the homeless circus of the temporary presidencies would be a good thing, and I think it's good to have European leaders whose ambition brings them to backing this reform__personally I do not believe to politicians doing any good because of moral strength, I think that if they do the good is because the goals of their ambition, for a limited period of time, coincide with the good of the citizens, and when this coincidence ends up there must be a way to kick them out... so I would even be able to tolerate Mr. Sarkozy as a Council President if this was necessary to have that reform... to tolerate for 2 and a half years, not a minute more.
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on #27:
although I don't like too much of M.Sarkozy's political agenda he has managed to let the EU presidency appear as something active and agile. He's an extreme example of what I perceive as typical french style of politics: great theatre. And admittedly, sometimes this is already something to appreciate before we forget how successful the EU has been for decades in supporting political and economic stability, and in giving Europe a voice as a geopolitical entity. No single nation in europe could've achived that much. And I think one reason for this has to be seen in the fact that the presidency's role is more one of a moderator than that of a leader, and that it's temprary status ensures that no country can dominate inadequately or excessively others simply by holding this office for half a year. I suspect that a longer period and more power for this office would soon blow up this union. I can't see where the small countries duck from the larger ones; rather look at the roles of the Benelux countries, Austria, or Ireland. That's one of the main reasons why I still support the EU because it provides a frame allowing to keep european pluralism and cultural diversity successfully alive and growing, and at the same time it preserves political stability and allows all members to adapt to current and future challenges. Of course I agree, too, that there's much to be improved in its institutions, but as large and as diverse as this federation is, we shouldn't fool ourselves into believing some strong leadership could easily wipe away all problems until tomorrow. Possibly one of the flaws of the lisbon treaty. But surely a flaw of M.Sarkozy's suggestion about the presidency.
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#23: Get over it. There is no left wing lesbian conspiracy. The BBC is not a tool of the EU nor the Labour Government. If Sarkozy deserves a mention because of his 'dishy' wife then we should all listen to Mandy because he has a sexy boyfriend!
Political opinions aside, Sarkozy has not just shaken up the EU in his 6 month presidency but more the French system - out with the political elite and in with people with ideas and passion. The PS in France was lost and like Labour in the 80s is now undergoing a painful rebuilding. I hate Sarkozy's politics but I like his style and recognise that the French Left will come out on top one day just a Blair did.
Of course with the rotating EU presidency it will all change on January 1st and can go in any direction. Perhaps the Czeks will bring in more chairs, or maybe they will make everyone stand..who knows.
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A friend of mine went christmas shopping in Germany last weekend.She as always been pro EU fan after seeing ignorant germans chanting abuse at her she is now against the EU.Even in the shops she said they were she ignorant.She as never been called british trash from across a bar and all she was doing was having a drink with her 80 year old mother.
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# 30
I hope she didn't mention the war ;o)
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#30 and #31,
When times get hard and in this time of recession one must always expect viewpoints to harden and racism, fanaticism etc to surface. Since the fantastic world leader (or is it leader of the world) Germany has received the shock of having a recession, meaning that it not the perfectionist country its residents like to claim it is, it is probably this that has revived the old racism.
On another point more pertinent to this blog topic, does anyone know when the title decider is going to held for the "I saved the world contest". Gordon "do nothing " Brown claimed in parliament last week that he had saved the world and Sarkozy clearly believes he has. Although to be fair Brown tried to cover up the slip by making out he meant to say 'banking world' rather than just 'world'. However, it would be fun to see these two in a fight to the finish armed with identical handbags, lol.
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30 - jaws1912
I am confused. How did they know it was racial abuse if they don't speak the language - if they do speak the language, why did they not address the problem - and what does one unpleasant experience in Germany have to do with the future of an entire continent?
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32 - Buzet23
I suspect that we now live in a world in which it is easier to establish your credentials as an international mastermind than as a national leader. Something to do with the fact that both would fail spectacularly if judged by the second standard or simply that neither would be in office?
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Can any pro EU fan on ere say 100% that the EU is democratic cause its not. Its not for the people or me or you .Even my french friend hates it now and feels trapped like a rat.
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30. jaws1912:
"A friend of mine went christmas shopping in Germany last weekend.She as always been pro EU fan after seeing ignorant germans chanting abuse at her she is now against the EU.Even in the shops she said they were she ignorant.She as never been called british trash from across a bar and all she was doing was having a drink with her 80 year old mother."
An unpleasant incident and the ladies have my sympathy. But what has the behaviour of a handful of drunken yobs or anti-foreigners got to do with the EU? Don't we, sadly, have the same sort of behaviour in the UK?
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#35,
I would be interested to know which moderator or complainant objected to me calling Mr (Sir) Gordon Brown, Gordon "Do Nothing " Brown. After all we have had several months of them calling Cameron that, other than that I was simply mentioning the terrible, reprehensible attack on Bush by someone throwing objects at him and musing whether other high level political representatives could maybe be subjected to the same undemocratic shock.
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On this website is a distressing report about police violence in Greece:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7782907.stm
'The witness, who speaks Greek, said he overheard the police saying to their detainees: "We have you now. You are out of your universities now? We are going to kill you."
One of the demonstrators told the BBC the same story almost word for word.
"The person in front of me was hit with a baton, as was the person behind. I fainted and they didn't get me. I was in a total panic. Anyone who moved got hit. Anyone who talked got hit," she said.'
"A policeman kept on marching in front of us and screaming verbal abuse. He was saying we are going to kill you. It was very scary," she added. '
We read loads of reports of this sort of stuff from other "EU" countries. I have read stuff like this in the Austrian media that has never made to to the British press, as far as I am aware.
1) These reports indicate a tendency to fascism in other "EU" countries. I find it totally unacceptable to be in a political union with those countries.
2) I find it unacceptable to make it too easy to extradite people to those countries.
3) I find it unacceptable to allow policemen from those countries to arrest people in the UK or to allow them to engage in front-line policing of any kind e.g. policing at football matches.
Further:
'Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis told President Karolas Papoulias that the "enemies of democracy" could not expect any leniency. '
The people who run the "EU" claim that it is democratic. We in the UK were promised a referendum on the Constitution=Lisbon. About 80% want that referendum. About 70% want to say "NO".
Despite that "EU"-lovers have the cheek to claim it is democratic.
That would make those of us who hate the "EU" into the "Enemies of Democracy."
Several times I have had Germans screaming at me for very mild criticism of the "EU". I have had German and British "EU"-lovers tell me that the UK may not leave the "EU". Not under any circumstances.
"European Gendarmes" are training in Italy. Presumable they are training in the use of the same sort of exciting methods that are used by Greek and Italian police.
Eurocorps were demonstrating their hardware on the Chanse Elise.
All of you who want a referendum on the "Lisbon Treaty"!
You are "Enemies of Democracy."
Get us out before it is too late!
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39. SuffolkBoy2:
"On this website is a distressing report about police violence in Greece:"
Agreed that this is immensely regrettable but are you suggesting that this is endemic to EU states only and that the UK has never seen the normally magnificent British police occasionally "lose it"? If so, you have a short memory.
Anyway, putting your xenophobic rant aside for a moment, you asked for details of EU money for the BBC. I gave the answer on 13 December at #55 on "New European 'No' Party".
May I at least expect the courtesy of an acknowledgement?
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#18
Human rights law is enforced by the European Court of Human Rights, not the ECJ. The European Court of Human Rights is part of the Council of Europe, and not a part of the EU.
#39
How about British policing methods in the de Menezes case? Pinning a man to the floor, shooting him at point blank range, then lieing to cover up the incompetence. And no one gets prosecuted. Or how about our detention without trail. Or our anti-terror laws, used against Iceland, that well-known source of anti-British extremists. And there are plenty in Europe who could look at our pedigree in Northern Ireland and say we are a totalitarian state.
As a final point, I don't really understand eurosceptic hostility to Lisbon. It gives the parliament much more power, and takes more and more away from the Commission, making it much more democratic. On top of that it gives us a legal exit mechanism. That means if Britain wanted it could leave, in a defined process, so we'd know what deal we ended up with. If we try to leave unilaterally under the current treaty we'd have to negotiate our exit, and that would be a terrible mess. Believe or not, our economy depends on Europe, and Europe is (combined) the world's biggest economy; that gives them an awful lot of bargaining power.
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#40, greypolyglot,
I looked at your response to SuffolkBoy2 and noted that the site is actually a test site by its own admission and that it's true there is a wide variety of beneficiaries. However there is nothing currently shown that says to who, from who, or why the three grants were made to the BBC, there is just a 'position key' so the 'what is available' information is currently not implemented.
When placed next to the 44 million Euros the British Council received the 2 million Euros is not a lot, but I would be very interested to learn how all these grants are made as the EU is synonymous for handing out money willy nilly and I'm sure there is a lot of cronyism and political correctness to be discovered anywhere you look in the EU's spending. I say this bearing in mind the constant criticisms of National Lottery grants, so if these EU UK grants are proposed by similar appointees then we can expect much the same sort of PC grant.
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#42
What is a non-PC grant? Funding for the BNP?
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#41, kublaikhan,
I don't know about others but my doubts about Lisbon are not that there are not a lot of good things in it but that it also has some hidden things in it that could potentially make things worse. I don't like the QMV system being proposed as by removing one of the current three tests and relying on a group of four states to provide a veto is designed to benefit the Franco-Germanic grouping that designed this treaty. The fact that other groups exist that could also use this veto is a form of mitigation, but if the verbal abuse and threats that the Irish have been subjected to is anything to go by I doubt a grouping of member states would have the courage to use that veto unless the proposition was really appalling. My other criticism is really that I do not like the 'ever closer union' federal approach and this treaty is totally about furthering this policy.
With everything that is wrong in the EU at the moment my take on this is that the politicians who run the elite should be concentrating more on the current failings than advancing their political agenda, and Lisbon will change few of the current failings. For instance, Social Mobility whereby you can work in any member state, this is a farce in practice with problems concerning establishing your pension rights, social welfare rights, taxation rights and this is after you have negotiated the first hurdle of harmonisation of your qualifications to see whether you're sufficiently qualified to work in a state (by their rules!).
As for the UK must negotiate exit, I'm minded to say that remember that one of the reasons the UK is being hit harder by the current financial problems is that it is an importer rather than an exporter, unlike Germany. If you consider therefore that were the UK to leave and place it's import business elsewhere than the EU due to punitive EU tariffs etc, it is the EU (and mostly Germany) that would suffer most from the drop in it's export trade. When you add to that the situation that the UK is the second largest net contributor and would become the largest were the rebate to be given away, I think the UK has a lot of negotiating power when it comes to an exit, if it ever does. A UK exit would leave a huge hole in the EU finances, and whilst this is never said I'm sure that this is one of the reasons the EU elite dislike the UK since their dreams would disappear should the UK leave. Having said that I must say I am anti the current federal EU but pro an EU that could be created that is much less empire driven and more a social Europe.
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#43, kublaikhan,
What is a non-PC grant you ask, well taking an example from the National Lottery grants since the details are published, we could call into question the rejection of grants to privately funded organisations like air ambulances, lifeboats etc. For PC grants we could examine the justification of grants to many fringe arts or projects, especially if they have an ethnic or minority flavour that suggests PC being the only real reason.
So far I've not heard of any political party receiving a Lottery grant and I would be as against the BNP getting one as I would be against the opposite extreme, the Communists, getting one.
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42. Buzet23:
"I looked at your response to SuffolkBoy2 and noted that the site is actually a test site by its own admission and that it's true there is a wide variety of beneficiaries. However there is nothing currently shown that says to who, from who, or why the three grants were made to the BBC, there is just a 'position key' so the 'what is available' information is currently not implemented. "
Another one that needs spoonfeeding!
Play with the boxes and you'll find that the first 2 payments are from EuropeAid to promote Democracy and Human Rights and the last one is to promote Humanitarian Aid.
Grants are made in response to justified applications. Do you suspect that the application forms have boxes to tick for "croney" or "PC"?
So it's a test site. And? It's a recent response to people who want more transparency and want to know where the money's going!
Why are you "sure there is a lot of cronyism and political correctness"? I could be discourteous and ask if you are ascribing your own motivation to others but I'll refrain.
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#44
Yes, I can certainly agree that I would prefer an EU that stopped navel-gazing institutional reform and got down to fixing some of the big problems; eg. an internal market for services and properly functioning labour markets ("Social Mobility"). But I find a bit of a contradiction in your position, particularly on "Social mobility", in that the major reason reform in this area has been so slow is that decisions in the Council must be made by unanimity, rather than QMV, so any proposals are blocked by France, Germany or Italy. Under QMV those countries with a stronger desire to fix this area, ie. the UK, Scandinavia and most of Eastern Europe would have the strength to do so.
Interestingly, Lisbon is often considered the death knell of federalism, given that it basically enshrines and tidies up the existing status quo and gives more power to intergovernmental institutions (the Council and Parliament) and takes it from the supranational, federalist ones (the Commission).
#45
I always understood the point of lottery grants to be to fund the sort of activities that aren't the responsibility of the state and are unlikely to attract significant private funding, rather than generic good causes. Air ambulances and lifeboats are public services for which the state must be held accountable, not the national lottery. Given the poverty that many minority communities face, they are even less likely to find private sector backing for cultural projects, hence the need for a greater weight of funding from the state. Such funding hopefully goes some way towards indicating that Britain is indeed a liberal and open place where people are free to express their culture, and not subject to oppressive "societal norms".
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#46, greypolyglot,
Firstly, I don't link my morals to others, maybe you do but that's up to you, my comments on cronyism are from what I've seen from politicians in both the UK and Belgium and from what is published when it's exposed, if you still believe it doesn't exist then it's you that needs spoon feeding I'm afraid as it's existence is very easy to find if you look.
As for the financial transparency site I simply question what 1.5 million Euro given in two slices to the EuropeAid Cooperation Office, Completion of former cooperation (19.04.05), European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, actually was and likewise 349,036 Euro to the Humanitarian Aid, Disaster preparedness (23.02.03), Humanitarian Aid, was. To who, and for what purpose were these given, no amount of playing with boxes or using the ctrl key will give you that answer. Just saying Humanitarian aid or European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights does not give us access to the details of these programs, as it is a blanket description. This site is a start in the right direction but it needs a lot more to be really useful and it needs a top down approach so that you can drill down to the actual detailed documents, now that's transparency.
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#47, kublaikhan,
Firstly, air ambulances and lifeboats are not state responsibilities and they largely rely on donations from the public.
For instance, the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has one helicopter and on average the service receives 3 or 4 calls per day and, as of September 2007, has flown close to 5,000 missions. It is deployed at the request of South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust and responds mostly to road traffic and horse riding accidents due to the remote locations and the kind of injuries sustained. The helicopter is leased from Bond Air Services and costs in excess of £3500 per day to run, this money has to be raised largely from charitable donations from the counties of Dorset and Somerset. The charity has a band of loyal volunteers spread across the two counties who work to raise funds to ensure that this vital service continues. It also runs a lottery which at present has over 18,000 members.
Likewise The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the British Isles, as well as inshore.
Note that both of these are charities and need public donation, in a just world these would be state funded but they're not, so Lottery funding is something they disparately need and being rejected when they apply is inexplicable and inexcusable.
Secondly, with regard to QMV, you mentioned "But I find a bit of a contradiction in your position, particularly on "Social mobility", in that the major reason reform in this area has been so slow is that decisions in the Council must be made by unanimity, rather than QMV, so any proposals are blocked by France, Germany or Italy.". It is indeed the protectionism of the countries that you mention, plus others, that have caused problems, but bear in mind it's not just the blocking of decisions that counts it's the implementation of directives that have been agreed. One of the worst failings is that states only play lip service to the legally enforceable directives, and the fines are simply regarded as a price worth paying to keep the protectionism in place. France is by far the worst for this with Germany not far behind but I don't see Lisbon doing anything to correct this non-European attitude. There are far too many double standards in the current EU and quite frankly I don't see federalism doing anything other than making things worse, as at the moment anyone trying to correct these failings is accused of being anti European even though it is the protectionism and nationalism that is anti European.
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kublaikhan wrote:
"#18
Human rights law is enforced by the European Court of Human Rights, not the ECJ. The European Court of Human Rights is part of the Council of Europe, and not a part of the EU."
Clearly human rights law is not enforced by the European Court of Human rights. That court has no enforcement mechanism beyond the hope that local state courts will abide by the precedents set forth in its findings.
The ECHR is so weak that it could not even bind itself properly to the EU. The EU firmly rejected the ECHR until the german constitutional pointed out that, without SOME human rights credentials, the EU couldn't really proclaim itself the supreme law making authority in Europe.
Because human rights are the subject of considerable interest by a great many germans, and the constitutional court felt they might object to handing over their legal sovereignty to a panel of aristocrats in Brussels.
Now at that point, taking the point for once, the ECJ became all of sudden a great beacon of human rights law. After the So lang case, the ECJ could not make a decision without talking about the sanctity and the importance of human rights in the world. They never actually enforced any, but my oh my did they start talking about how important they were.
But they choose NOT to incorporate the ECHR in the EU, and even today, if you ask them, they will tell you that ECJ decisions on human rights take precedence over conflicting ECHR law.
So please don't tell me about how the ECHR "enforces" human rights law. That is a nonsense.
Your human rights under the EU plan are to be enforced by your local courts, who will follow the precedents set by a superior European court.
To whom you will not have direct access.
Those are your human rights, and unless you'd be happy to discuss yours in a greek court just now, do not be selling these folks the good news that law in Europe became homogenized with the stroke of an aristocrats pen. We've heard that one before, mate.
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48. Buzet23:
"my comments on cronyism are from what I've seen from politicians in both the UK and Belgium and from what is published when it's exposed"
My faith in the words of politicians is extremely limited. They probably come nearest the truth when in very large numbers because then there's always someone with a axe to grind who'll force out the unsavoury bits.
"As for the financial transparency site ... no amount of playing with boxes or using the ctrl key will give you (the) answer. Just saying Humanitarian aid or European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights does not give us access to the details of these programs, as it is a blanket description. This site is a start in the right direction but it needs a lot more to be really useful and it needs a top down approach so that you can drill down to the actual detailed documents, now that's transparency."
Don't tell me. Tell them! Get onto the EU website and make your views known on the blog of the appropriate Commissioner.
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Kublaikhan (47): The Lisbon treaty gives more power to the EU Commission because it expands the range of policies subject to the supranational community method, and also reduces blocking thresholds making it more likely that a Commission proposal will ?get through? against opposition from some national governments. Therefore Lisbon would make the EU more federal and not less.
Can you explain to me why you think the EU Parliament is an intergovernmental institution?
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#51, greypolyglot,
You suggested "Don't tell me. Tell them! Get onto the EU website and make your views known on the blog of the appropriate Commissioner.", so I just visited the blog of Vladimir Spidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. It seems this is more about his comments as apart from a 'contact me' button there is no ability I could see to comment something that would be publicly visible. Other commissioners do have blogs that accept comments but not this one it seems, pity as a Belgian/French mate of mine would have enjoyed contributing to that blog on Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
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53. Buzet23:
"You suggested "Don't tell me. Tell them! Get onto the EU website and make your views known on the blog of the appropriate Commissioner.", so I just visited the blog of Vladimir Spidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities."
You really do seem to be trying to get me to do it all for you. I don't see how a website on EU spending is supposed to be the responsibility of Vladimir Spidla. Try Margot Wallstrom.
If your "Belgian/French mate ... would have enjoyed contributing to (a) blog on Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities" tell him to write to Spidla complaining about the absence of such.
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#54, greypolyglot,
Sorry my friend but I was referring to the lack of social mobility, welfare and qualifications so the commissioner I referred to is the person controlling that. As for EU spending it maybe Wallstrom as I also referred to the BBC grants so maybe I mixed the two. However my friend has written to every site he's found and like me he is/was an IT person so he's navigated anything he could find on the web, I'm afraid the responses are very absent and they've turned him from a totally committed EU supporter into a person who now disbelieves anything an EU politician says. Maybe I put him on this blog as I think the europhiles would maybe learn something from a former high level director.
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