EU To Ban Eurosceptic Groups
Writing in the Telegraph on Tuesday, Bruno Waterfield uncovered fresh plans by MEPs to eliminate eurosceptics as an organised opposition within the European Parliament.
Richard North continued the story by pointing out that the affect of amending these parliamentary rules will probably be to prevent David Cameron from forming a new eurosceptic group as he had pledged during his party leadership campaign and breaking away from the EPP-ED.
Gawain Towler also talks us through the procedure of how the vote came to pass and the way in which Europhile Tory MEP, Timothy Kirkhope helped Labour’s Richard Corbett escape defeat. Whether this was intentional on Mr Kirkhope’s part is open to debate – though he had ample motivation since he has been against Cameron’s pledge to leave the EPP-ED from the start.
Rather sadly, a significant number of people in politics and the media (who probably should know much better) continue to have a fairly rose-tinted view of what they would like the European Union to be, rather than acknowledge what it has actually become. Despite all evidence to the contrary they persist in believing the Union to be a free trading area when it is not; a bastion of democratic ideals when it is not, and a co-operative but loose association of sovereign nations when it is not.
The sole aim of the EU’s fore-fathers and subsequent torch bearers always has and always will be ‘ever closer union’ and political integration. As a consequence EU institutions and supporters will not tolerate any dissent against their grand project which they have spent so much time and effort slowly constructing, and will often break their own rules of procedure simply to evade any semblance of democratic opposition.
To an ever increasing extent, even outside the chambers of the European Parliament, the EU has purged any form of meaningful euroscepticism. Beyond small pockets of resistance, the majority of big businesses, politicians and the European mainstream media are in favour of the EU project and ever closer union.
Furthermore, the European Union effectively prevents eurosceptic parties from contesting elections to any significant degree. Anti-EU parties such as UK Independence (UKIP) are just about tolerated when contesting national elections because they have no chance of actually winning or forming a government. Therefore they can be portrayed by the EU and the media as marginal and extremist, despite the fact that they are not. Yet, as soon as a party or a campaign group appears even partially capable of winning on an anti-EU ticket then the EU invests its full political and financial weight to intervene so that such an outcome becomes far more unlikely.
Those that doubt this is the case need only take a look at the current Referendum campaign in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty where the EU Commission has purposefully curbed any unpopular announcements until after the result has been announced and has helped to massively funded the ‘yes’ vote. Head of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso recently issued a veiled warning to the Irish by saying:
If there was a ‘No’ in Ireland or in another country, it would have a very negative effect for the EU. We will all pay a price for it, Ireland included, if this is not done in a proper way.
The ‘proper way’ of course meaning that the Irish need to vote for the Lisbon Treaty or they will suffer the consequences of being asked again, and again until it is done in the ‘proper way’. As I have said before, the European Union does not understand the word ‘no’. It’s not in its vocabulary. If ‘no’ does mean anything at all to the EU, it is that it is a deferred ‘yes’.
Returning again to the issue of the European Parliament voting to ban eurosceptics from forming opposition groups; those calling for the amendment claim that it is necessary to change the minimum grouping size to prevent single issue groups from gaining undue taxpayer funding. However, if you start to make it more difficult for political parties to form groupings because you disagree with their opinions then you enter dangerous waters.
For David Cameron this represents a key test of his leadership. His commitment to take Conservative MEPs out of the EPP-ED grouping was a very specific pledge during his leadership campaign, and a great number of people voted for him based on this one issue. As Richard North points out, this provides:
The litmus test of his Eurosceptic credentials and thus assumes an importance which transcends the actual issue.
If Cameron falters at the final hurdle and does not leave the EPP then there will undoubtedly be ramifications and he is going to make a lot of people very unhappy. Let us hope he does not fail.
