Rome and the European Union

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The Amsterdam Treaty followed and was signed in 1997 as a further notch of the ratchet of "ever-closer union", meaning in fact, ever diminishing sovereignty, following the principle of acquis communautaire (which asserts "that what has been acquired cannot be taken away"). The Amsterdam Treaty gave more powers to the unelected Commission and particularly to its unelected President as the initiator, administrator, mediator, negotiator and guardian of the Treaties. The Treaty of Nice, signed by Prime Minister Tony Blair in December 2000, was the last in the series of treaties, which have progressively drained the UK of its sovereignty. At Nice there was finally and irrevocably established the EU as a sovereign federal state. A new European criminal code, Corpus Juris, will replace the classic, longstanding British criminal code. Vital elements such as Trial by Jury and Habeas Corpus are missing from this new code.[17]

 

 

EU Supreme Power

 

Even before the Treaty of Nice came into force, the EU Constitutional Convention, presided over by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, produced its first draft of a constitution for Europe in October 2002. On 13 June 2003 a final version of the draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, was produced. Quoting from the London Daily Telegraph,

 

"To the strains of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, the Convention on the Future of Europe proclaimed agreement yesterday on a written constitution for a vast European Union of 450 million citizens bringing together East and West. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the chair of the 105-strong body, held up a text...'We have sown a seed and I am sure that seed will grow and bring fruit. Europe's voice will be heard and respected on the international stage. Instead of a half-formed Europe, we have a Europe with a legal identity, with a single currency, common justice, a Europe which is about to have its own defence.' There was no vote. M Giscard, famed for his autocratic style during 16 months of stormy debates, simply discerned consensus among the MPs, MEPs, and national envoys. Few were willing to spoil the party by crying foul...The Constitution gives the EU full 'legal personality' and determines that EU law will have primacy over the law of member states. It prohibits Westminster from legislating in most areas of national life - agriculture, justice, energy, social policy, economic cohesion, transport, the environment, and aspects of public health - unless Brussels chooses to waive its power."[18]

 

"If the new constitution is accepted, the EU will no longer be a treaty organization in which member states agree to lend power to Brussels, for certain purposes, on the understanding that they can take it back again. Rather, the EU will itself have become the fount of power, with the ability to sign international treaties in its own right. It will have its own President, foreign minister and foreign policy; its own parliament, supreme court, flag, anthem and currency. It will have become a sovereign state, in fact a federal superstate. The member states whose constitutions will be subject to this higher constitution, will cease to be sovereign. The new order will be irreversible. M Giscard made clear that the national veto is to be abolished in 50 new areas, including immigration and asylum."[19]

 

Under the new Constitution's rules, no nation is to be allowed to secede from the EU except by a two-thirds majority vote of member states in agreement with the secession.

 

 

The Same Spirit - of Domination

 

The EU will acquire competence in "all areas of foreign policy, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy"; though major decisions must be unanimous. The European Court, which acquires vast powers, will ensure that member states "actively and unreservedly support the EU's common foreign and security policy". Article 8 of the draft Constitution, which also imposes "an obligation of loyal cooperation vis-à-vis the Union" of member states, reinforces the supremacy of EU law over the laws of member states.[20] An EU attorney-general will be able to prosecute "cross-border crime", a catch-all term that will allow Brussels the supreme jurisdiction throughout the EU. The Constitution lacks any serious democratic dimension and is clearly designed to strengthen the EU power structure for the benefit of the European elite. Doubtless the intention is to force it through with the minimum of real democratic scrutiny.

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