Thursday - September 17, 2009

EU: is Britain still a sovereign state?

EU membership has led to deep constitutional changes in the UK. But it would be wrong to say that we have been robbed of our sovereignty, says Philip Johnston. Our government has been an accomplice all the way .

By Philip Johnston
Published: 7:00AM BST 17 Sep 2009

Before Edward Heath signed the Treaty of Rome in 1972, all laws affecting the people of this country were made by their own directly elected parliament. The UK’s accession to what was then called the Common Market transferred sovereignty over a good deal of law-making from Westminster and Whitehall to Brussels.

There are many who did not realise that this was part of the deal. They thought Britain was signing up to a free trade area that would also entrench the peace that Western Europe had enjoyed in the decades after 1945. But the “ever closer union” envisaged in the treaty required greater harmonisation of laws in order that each member state should operate on the same basis as far as possible.

The constitutional upheaval caused by membership of what is now the EU was the greatest in the country’s history since the Glorious Revolution of 1688. For almost 300 years, the “old constitution” was self-contained and largely immune to outside influences.

All this changed when we joined the EEC. As Prof Anthony King observed in his book The British Constitution: “Not only did Parliament cease to be sovereign, Britain itself ceased to be an old-fashioned sovereign state. The fact of being a member of the EU permeates almost the whole of the British government – to a far greater extent than most Britons seem to realise.”

How great remains a matter of debate. Oddly, those who are the most enthusiastic supporters of the EU seek to play down its influence on our lives while those who loathe it see its tentacles everywhere.

HERE FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE

It’s a lengthy read and so I’ve cut it here but the link above will take those interested to the remainder.

Now then, I am no diplomat, I am not trained in the law or treaties or anything else that has to do with this issue. But I read the papers, hear debates on radio, listen to people when the subject come up.

As I see it, the Euro powers that be are building (or trying to) a socialist super-state. Maybe it didn’t start out that way, and I doubt that really I do, but I think the end result will be that anyway.

I may have gripes with democracy but to some extent a democracy does have (I am led to believe) checks and balances I don’t think I recognize in the EU. 

They are for the most part an unelected body, a commission, and they decide policy and laws that are put together by bureaucrats and then rubber stamped by a euro parliament.  A parliament without powers as I understand it.

All one needs to do is change the names to understand what I’m trying to say.  Change the names and wallah, you have what socialists love.
A centralized socialist dictatorship.  Think about it.

Commission translates as === Politburo
Council of Ministers translates as === Central Committee

Ladies and gents ... welcome to The European Union of Socialist States.

Posted by peiper     on 09/17/2009 at 09:36 AM   
Filed Under: • Editorials • UK •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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