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CrabCake
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Posts: 19,263
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« Reply #176 on: March 31, 2016, 08:48:11 PM » |
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« Edited: March 31, 2016, 08:51:08 PM by CrabCake »
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http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/01/exclusive-royal-family-considering-dramatic-brexit-interventionYes, I know that anonymous quotes from the Palace are classic sources of yellow journalism, but this article is hilarious. The characterisation of the Out campaigners, of Cameron, the random praise of Varafoukis and Tsipras (lol), Ant and Dec ... Not to mention this: Another insider said early proposals to do a live broadcast have been rejected in favour of a pre-recorded session because of Philip’s propensity for swearing. “The words have to be perfect,” she said
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ChrisDR68
PoshPaws68
Jr. Member
Posts: 395
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« Reply #178 on: April 15, 2016, 03:02:53 PM » |
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Very interesting ending to this first episode of Nick Robinson's Europe: Them Or Us shown on BBC2 this week (the crucial bit starts at 57.20): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HYnG84IhywRight at the time of the UK's entry in 1973 the French president Pompidou wanted to set the agenda for the road ahead aiming at economic and monetary union which he suggested should be aimed for 1980. Foreign secretary Sir Alec Douglas Hume read the message and said to Heath "I don't think the house will like this very much Ted". Heath is said to have replied "But that Alec is what it's all about". Replying to the interviewer after being reminded of this story years later Heath replied "Well that's what it was about. And we've have got it too". Now you can argue about the merits about economic and monetary union (personally I think it's nuts and the countries of the Eurozone are condemning themselves to years or even decades of low growth because of it) but the irritating thing in the UK is that the EU enthusiasts never mention it. Their arguments are all about economics. Wrong. It's all about politics and always has been.
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ChrisDR68
PoshPaws68
Jr. Member
Posts: 395
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« Reply #180 on: April 27, 2016, 10:29:43 AM » |
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For anyone on here that refuses to believe a federal European superstate is just around the corner here is a quote from pages 4 and 5 from the Five President's Report written by Jean-Claude Juncker published last June: Progress must happen on four fronts: first, towards a genuine Economic Union that ensures each economy has the structural features to prosper within the Monetary Union. Second, towards a Financial Union that guarantess the integrity of our currency across the Monetary Union and increaes risk-sharing with the private sector. This means completing the Banking Union and accelerating the Capital Markets Union. Third, towards a Fiscal Union that delivers both fiscal sustainability and fiscal stabilisation. And finally, towards a Political Union that provides the foundation for all of the above through genuine democratic accountability, legitimacy and institutional strengthening.
Once they reach the political union stage a federal European superstate will be a reality. The bolded bits are in the original text so I copied it. https://ec.europa.eu/priorities/sites/beta-political/files/5-presidents-report_en.pdf
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ChrisDR68
PoshPaws68
Jr. Member
Posts: 395
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« Reply #198 on: May 07, 2016, 06:50:56 AM » |
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The Democratic Accountability part of the 5-President's Report does not seem to envisage anything which would actually create democratic accountability.
It is not directly relevant to the present UK referendum, but I would suggest that democratic accountability would only be improved by abolishing the Commission and the Council (in its executive role) and replacing them with a European Union government responsible to the European Parliament. The Council and the Parliament could then take there proper democratic roles as a bicameral legislature, with each body having at the very least equal powers and the full right to initiate and amend legislation on any European Union competence.
My suggestions may not deal with the objection that there can be no true democratic accountability, because there is no real European polity. It is far more likely to create something useful than the bureaucratic and diplomatic waffle of the 5-President's Report. Personally I think it would be better to scrap this whole complicated structure entirely and go back to having independent sovereign countries co-operating on trade and foreign affairs issues in their mutual national interests similiar to how the old EEC operated in the 1970's and 1980's. First to go should be the single currency. The Eurozone economy won't recover until that is dispensed with. It just depends on how stubborn the Franco-German axis is in supporting it. So far they've been very, very stubborn.
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