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BRITISH HISTORY THE STORY of
Freedom & justice walk hand in hand
Love of freedom inspires adventurous and happy Brits.
Unbiased Facts About the EU for students – or MPs – from CIVITAS
YOUR OWN CHOICE
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The Supranational State S O S
The following piece by Professor Anthony Coughlan, downloaded from the Brussels Journal (13.l2.07), is one of the most comprehensive analyses I have read on the subject. The document was drafted by Professor Coughlan, Secretary of the National Platform EU Research and Information in Dublin, in consultation with authorities on European and Constitutional Law. Professor Coughlan may be reached at 24 Crawford Avenue, Dublin 9, Ireland. Tel: 00-353-1-830792. Email: nationalplatformeuric@eircom.net. The Lisbon Treaty gives the EU the constitutional form of a state. This was not true before. It will be true if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. These are the ten most important things the Lisbon Treaty does:1. It establishes a legally new European Union in the constitutional form of a supranational European State. 2. It empowers this new European Union to act as a State vis-a-vis other States and its own citizens. 3. It makes us all citizens of this new European Union. 4. To hide the enormity of the change, the same name - European Union - will be kept while the Lisbon Treaty changes fundamentally the legal and constitutional nature of the Union. 5. It creates a Union Parliament for the Union's new citizens. 6. It creates a Cabinet Government of the new Union. 7. It creates a new Union political President. 8. It creates a civil rights code for the new Union's citizens. 9. It makes national Parliaments subordinate to the new Union. 10. It gives the new Union self-empowerment powers. 1. The Lisbon Treaty establishes a legally quite new European Union. This is a Union in the constitutional form of a supranational European State: The Treaty gives this new Union a State Constitution which is identical in its legal effects to the EU Constitution that French and Dutch voters rejected in their 2005 referendums. It does this by amending the two existing basic European Treaties, the "Treaty on European Union" (TEU) and the "Treaty Establishing the European Community" (TEC). The former retains its name, while the latter is renamed the "Treaty on the Functioning of the Union" (TFU). These two amended Treaties become the de facto Constitution of the new Union which they constitute or establish, although they are not called a Constitution. The EU has thus been given a Constitution indirectly rather than in direct form, as had been proposed in the Treaty which the peoples of France and Holland rejected in 2005. The provision of the Lisbon Treaty that "The Union shall replace and succeed the European Community" (Art.1.3, amended TEU) makes absolutely clear that the post-Lisbon Union will be quite a new entity, as the European Community of which our countries are all currently members ceases to exist. 2. The Treaty empowers this new European Union to act as a State vis-a-vis other States and its own citizens: To understand the change introduced by the Lisbon Treaty one needs to understand that what we call the European Union today is not a State. It is not even a legal or corporate entity in its own right, for it does not have legal personality. The name "European Union" at present is a descriptive term for all the relations between its 27 Member States. At present these relations cover both the "European Community" area where supranational European law is operative, and the "intergovernmental" areas of foreign policy and justice and home affairs where Member States cooperate with one another on the basis of keeping their sovereignty and where European laws do not apply. The Lisbon Treaty changes this situation by creating a constitutionally and legally quite new EU, while retaining the same name, the "Union".Unlike the present European Union, this legally new EU will be separate from and superior to its Member States, just as the USA is separate from and superior to California or New York, or Federal Germany to Bavaria or Brandenburg. This new European Union can sign treaties with other States in all areas of its competence and conduct itself as a State in the international community of States. It can speak at the United Nations on agreed foreign policy positions of its Member States, just as in the days of the Soviet Union the USSR had a UN seat while Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia had UN seats also. The Lisbon Treaty also gives the EU a political President, a Foreign Minister - to be called a High Representative - a diplomatic corps and a Public Prosecutor. The new EU will accede to the European Convention on Human Rights, as all other European States have already done, including those outside the EU. The Treaty also sets out the principle of the primacy of the laws of the new Union over the laws of its Member States (Declaration 27). The new EU makes the majority of laws for its Member States each year and under the Lisbon Treaty the new Union, which will replace the European Community, gets further power to make laws or take decisions by qualified majority vote in relation to some 68 new policy areas ormatters where Member States currently have a veto. 3. The Treaty makes us all real citizens of this new European Union for the first time, instead of our being notional or honorary European "citizens" as at present: A State must have citizens and one can only be a citizen of a State. This gives the 500 million inhabitants of the present EU Member States a real separate citizenship from citizenship of their national States for the first time. It gives a treble citizenship to citizens of Bavaria and Brandenburg within a Federal State like Germany. The rights and duties attaching to this citizenship of the new Union are be superior to those attaching to citizenship of one's own national State in any case of conflict between the two, because of the superiority of EU law over national law and constitutions. As most States only recognise that one can have a single citizenship, henceforth it is one's Union citizenship which will be regarded by other countries as primary and superior to one's national citizenship. As such they will no longer be constitutions of sovereign States, just as the various local states of the USA retain their constitutions although they are subordinate to the Federal US Constitution. 4. To hide the enormity of the change, the same name - European Union - will be kept while the Lisbon Treaty changes fundamentally the legal and constitutional nature of the Union. By this means the importance of the proposed change is kept hidden from the people: The change in the constitutional nature of both the Union and its Member States will be made in three legal steps that are set out in the Treaty: (a) It establishes a European Union with an entire legal personality and independent corporate existence in all Union areas for the first time, so that it can function as a State vis-a-vis other States and in relation to its own citizens (Art.32, amended TEU); (b) This new European Union replaces the existing European Community and takes over all of its powers and institutions. It takes over as well the "intergovernmental" powers over foreign policy and crime, justice and home affairs which at present are outside the scope of European law, leaving only the Common Foreign and Security Policy outside the scope of its supranational power (Art.11.1, amended TEU). It thereby gives a unified constitutional structure to the new Union which it will constitute or establish. The European Community disappears and all spheres of public policy will come within the scope of supranational EU law-making either actually or potentially, as in any constitutionally unified State. (One says "potentially" because further inter-State treaties would be required to transfer the minority of law-making powers still remaining with the Member States to the new Union in the future, or to shift powers back from the supranational level to the Member States - something that has never happened up to now. Supranational legislative acts would not yet be adopted in the sphere of Common Foreign and Security Policy and new treaties would be needed to change that. However the Commission, a key supranational body, will through the High Representative/Foreign Minister gain the right of initiative in the foreign policy field, so that even in the light of Art.11.1 TEU a de facto "supranationality" will be attained here); (c) It makes us all real citizens of the new Federal Union which the Treaty establishes, with all the implications of that for downgrading our present personal status as citizens of sovereign nation States and superseding it by citizenship of a supranational European Federation. 5. It creates a Union Parliament for the Union's new citizens: The Lisbon Treaty/EU Constitution makes Members of the European Parliament, who at present are "representatives of the peoples of the Member States", into "representatives of the Union's citizens" (Art.9a, amended TEU). This illustrates the constitutional shift the Treaty makes from the present European Union of national States and peoples to the new Federal Union of European citizens and their national states - the latter henceforth reduced constitutionally and politically to provincial or regional status.6. It creates a Cabinet Government of the new Union: The Treaty turns the European Council, the quarterly "summit" meetings of Member State Heads of State or Government, into an institution of the new Union, so that its acts and failures to act will, like all other Union institutions, be subject to legal review by the EU Court of Justice. Legally speaking these summit meetings of the European Council will no longer be "intergovernmental" gatherings of Prime Ministers and Presidents outside supranational European structures. As part of the new EU´s institutional framework, they will instead be constitutionally required to "promote the Union's values, advance its objectives, serve its interests" and "ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions." (Art. 9 amended TEU). They will also "define the general political direction and priorities thereof" (Art.9b). The European Council thus becomes in effect the Cabinet Government of the new Federal EU, and its individual members will be primarily obliged to represent the Union to their Member States rather than their Member States to the Union. 7. It creates a new Union political President: The federalist character of the European Council "summit" meetings in the proposed new Union structure is further underlined by the provision which gives the European Council a permanent political President for up to five years (two and a half years renewable once) (Art.9b). There is no gathering of Heads of State or Government in any other international context which maintains the same chairman or president for several years while individual national prime ministers and prime ministers come and go. The federal character of the new President is emphasised also by the Treaty provision which forbids that person from holding any national office and which lays down that he/she shall "ensure the external representation of the Union". 8. It creates a civil rights code for the new Union's citizens: All States have codes setting out the rights of their citizens. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights will be that. It will be made legally binding by the new Treaty and will be an essential part of the new Union's constitutional structure (Art.6, amended TEU). The Charter is stated to be binding on the Union's own institutions and on Member States in implementing Union law. This limitation to EU law and to the EU institutions is unrealistic, however, because (a) the principles of primacy and uniformity of Union law mean that Member States will not only be bound by the Fundamental Rights Charter when implementing EU law, but also through the "interpretation and application of their national laws in conformity with Union laws" (v. ECJ judgements in the Factortame, Simmenthal and other law cases); and because (b) the Charter sets out fundamental rights in areas in which the Union has currently no competence, e.g. outlawing the death penalty, asserting citizens' rights in criminal proceedings and various other areas. 9. It makes national Parliaments subordinate to the new Union: The Treaty underlines the subordinate role of National Parliaments in the constitutional structure of the new Union by stating that "National Parliaments shall contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union" by various means set out in Article 8c, amended TEU. The imperative "shall" implies an obligation on National Parliaments to further the interests of the new Union. The provision of the Treaty that if one-third of the National Parliaments object to a Commission proposal, the Commission must reconsider it but not necessarily abandon it, is small compensation for the loss of democracy involved by the loss of 68 vetoes by National Parliaments as a result of other changes proposed by the Lisbon Treaty. 10. It gives the new Union self-empowerment powers: (a) the enlarged scope of the Flexibility Clause (Art.308 TEC/TFU), whereby if the Treaty does not provide the necessary powers to enable the new Union attain its very wide objectives, the Council may take appropriate measures by unanimity. The Lisbon Treaty extends this provision from the area of operation of the common market to all of the new Union's policies directed at attaining its much wider objectives. The Flexibility Clause has been widely used to extend EU law-making over the years; (b) the proposed "Simplified Treaty Revision Procedure" which permits the Prime Ministers and Presidents on the European Council to shift Union decision-taking from unanimity to qualified majority voting in the "Treaty on the Functioning of the Union" (Art.33.6, amended TEU), where the population size of certain Member States is likely to be decisive; and (c) the several "ratchet-clauses" or "passerelles" which would allow the European Council to switch from unanimity to majority voting in certain specified areas such as judicial cooperation in civil matters (Art.69d.3.2), in criminal matters (Art.69f.2), in relation to the EU Public Prosecutor (69i.4), and in a number of other areas. Conclusion: It is hard to think of any major function of a State which the new European Union will not have once the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. The main one seems to be the power to make its Member States go to war against their will. The Treaty does provide that the EU may go to war while individual Member States may "constructively abstain". The obligation on the Union to "provide itself with the means necessary to attain its objectives and carry through its policies" (Art. TEC/TFU 269 a), which means raising its "own resources" to finance them, may be regarded as conferring on it wide taxation and revenue-raising powers, although these will require unanimity to exercise. Currently public expenditure and the tax measures needed to finance it remain overwhelmingly at national state level. This is because such social services as health, education, social security and public housing, as well as defence, policing and public transport - the government functions which cost most money - are still mainly at this level. However the new European Union will have its own government, with a legislative, executive and judicial arm, its own political President, its own citizens and citizenship, its own human and civil rights code, its own currency, economic policy and revenue, its own international treaty-making powers, foreign policy, foreign minister, diplomatic corps and United Nations voice, its own crime and justice code and Public Prosecutor. It already possesses such normal State symbols as its own flag, anthem, motto and annual official holiday. As regards the State authority of the new Union, it is embodied in the Union' s own executive, legislative and judicial institutions: the European Council, Council of Ministers, Commission, Parliament and Court of Justice. It is also embodied in the Member States and their authorities as they implement and apply EU law and interpret and apply national law in conformity with Union law. Member States will be constitutionally required to do this under the Lisbon Treaty. Thus EU "State authorities" as represented for example by soldiers and policemen in EU uniforms on our streets are not needed as such. Allowing for the special features of each case, all the classical Federal States which have been formed on the basis of power being surrendered by lower constituent states to a higher Federal authority have developed in a gradual way, just as has happened in the case of the European Union. Nineteenth century Germany, the USA, Canada and Australia are classical examples. Indeed the EU has accumulated its powers much more rapidly than some of these Federal States - in the short historical time-span of some sixty years. All stable States are founded on such communities where people speak a common language and mutually identify with one another as one people - a "We". In the EU however there is no European people or "demos", except statistically. The Lisbon Treaty is an attempt to construct a highly centralised European Federation artificially, from the top down, out of Europe's many nations, peoples and States, without their free consent and knowledge. If there were to be a European Federation that is democratic and acceptable, the minimum constitutional requirement for it would be that its laws would be initiated and approved by the directly elected representatives of the people either in the European Parliament or the National Parliaments. Unfortunately, neither the Lisbon Treaty nor the EU Constitution it establishes contains any such proposal. For the Euro-federalist political elites who have been driving this process over decades this is the culmination of what started nearly 60 years ago when the 1950 Schuman Declaration, which is commemorated annually on 9 May, Europe Day, proclaimed the European Coal and Steel Community to be the "first step in the federation of Europe". The peoples of Europe do not want this kind of highly centralized Federal European Union whose most striking feature is that it is run virtually entirely by committees of politicians, bureaucrats and judges, none of whom are directly elected by the people. The Constitutional Treaty setting it up has already been rejected by the French and the Dutch in 2005. As French President Nicolas Sarkozy has admitted, the Prime Ministers and Presidents have agreed among themselves on no account to have referendums on the Renamed Constitutional Treaty, for that would be rejected everywhere again. Only the Irish are enabled to have their say on it because of the constitutional case taken before the Supreme Court by the late Raymond Crotty. That action by that great Irishman stopped the State's politicians of that time from ratifying a previous European Treaty, the Single European Act, in an unconstitutional manner. OUR CONSTITUTION I hear from time to time that some of our politicians are not fully aware of the extent to which they have already given away to the EU the right to govern our country. So doing is against the Constitution of this country as incorporated in the Declaration of Rights 1688. Everything in the Declaration of Rights was embodied in the Bill of Rights of 1689 which still stands today and has full force of law. Betty Boothroiyd, when Speaker of the House of Commons in 1993, stated “The Bill of Rights will be required to be fully respected by all those appearing before the courts”. The following is an extract from the Oath Section: “I do declare that no foreign prince, person, prelate, State or Potentate hath, or ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Preeminence, or Authority Ecclesiastical, or Spiritual within this Realme – so help me God”. How can our Government ask Her Majesty the Queen to give Royal Assent to any bill which is contrary to the Constitution of this country? To find out how your MP has voted go to http://www.theyworkforyou.com. DEMOCRACY The Prime Minister has called for Pakistan and Kenya to return to democracy and yet, if the EU Constitution (Lisbon Treaty/Reform Treaty) is ratified by Parliament, we in this country will live permanently under EU domination. Already at least 75% of our laws are made by Brussels and, under the Constitution this would increase to 95% or more. According to Mr Giscard d’Estaing, this Treaty has deliberately been made almost impossible to read. All MPs of the three main political parties were elected under the terms of their manifestos, which stated that the people of this country would be given a referendum on the EU Constitution. Both Labour and Liberal Democrats have reneged on this promise. Government ministers have deliberately and seriously misled the public on the contents of this Treaty. The Liberal Democrats, if a recent letter from my Liberal Democrat MP is anything to go by, are also being extremely economical with the truth. Nick Clegg, their new leader, wants us to have a referendum on our relationship with the EU after the Constitution has been ratified, doubtless knowing full well that it will be almost impossible to change the terms of our membership or leave the EU at that time. I wonder why the EU needs off shore bank accounts - 416 in October 2005 (as reported by Ashley Mote MEP and he believes he would have been informed if there were now any less). If the EU ever allows this country to have another general election, we will certainly know that neither the Labour Party nor the Liberal Democrats can ever again be trusted or believed. Can the Conservatives be trusted to get us out of this dreadful mess? PURPLE POSTCARD CAMPAIGN REVIVED BY CREC Gordon Brown’s refusal of referendum on EU Reform Treaty means only the Queen can now stop it. CREC is reviving its successful ‘purple postcard’ campaign which was widely credited with helping to persuade Tony Blair in May 2004 to concede a referendum on the EU Constitution. Three and a half years later, Gordon Brown, on 13 December, signed the EU Reform Treaty in Lisbon. As all European leaders except Gordon Brown agree, it is a virtual carbon copy of the EU Constitution, with over 99% of its wording exactly the same as in the E.U. Constitution. It is the EU Constitution by another name. We were promised a referendum on it by Tony Blair. Now Gordon Brown is refusing it. He says Parliament alone will decide. The idea of the purple postcards campaign is simple. The front of the card carries a simple message: “No European Constitution without a Referendum”. The back of the card carries an appeal to the Queen, which we invite people to sign, date and post to the Queen. A special feature of our campaign is that every single card has a unique serial number. This enables us to track the numbers of cards being posted. In 2003 and 2004, 175,000 British people sent postcards to the Queen. At the height of our campaign, around 1,000 cards a day were being received at Buckingham Palace. CREC was informed by the Queen’s Correspondence Secretary in 2003 that the Queen was being kept informed on a regular basis of the actual numbers being received. As to whether she ever mentioned our campaign to Tony Blair, we can only speculate. The wording of our appeal to the Queen will be seen on the enclosed card. The Queen is the ultimate protector of our Constitution, which guarantees our political independence. In the event of a conflict between Parliament and the people, which now appears to be the case, she must side with her people. The cards are available at the following prices, all of which INCLUDE postage: 5 for £1 (20p each), 20 for £3 (17p each), 50 for £6 (12 p each), 100 for £10 (10p each), 500 for £35 (7p each), first 1,000 for £60 (6p each), thereafter £50 per 1,000 (5p each). Special arrangements can be made for larger quantities. To order, send a cheque, made out to CREC, to: Telephone enquiries to any of the following: e-mail: ajsbennett@btinternet.com website: www.european-referendum.org.uk A postcard is enclosed for all readers other than parliamentarians. Please send it to Her Majesty and encourage your friends, neighbours and family also to order and send cards. FREEDOM QUOTATION "The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defence are the constitutional rights secure." "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong." (Albert Einstein) SOS IS SENT TO MPS BUT COMMUNICATIONS ARE FAR MORE EFFECTIVE IF THEY COME FROM A CONSTITUENT. PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR MP WITH A DEMAND THAT HE/SHE VOTES AGAINST RATIFYING THE EU TREATY. ~ Iris Binstead Let us persevere in the defence of freedom. SOS SAVE OUR SOVEREIGNTY |
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