Welcome to the mad world of the EU!

..working towards the divorce of the UK and the EU...

Thursday 13 September 2012

Strasbourg Commentary Plenary Session 10 - 13 Sept 2012


Strasbourg Commentary               Plenary Session          10 - 13 Sept 2012


Barroso you will have seen comments in the press about his speech of Weds morning. They  are not exaggerated, he is on a mission, they all are. Nothing will stop them making this a Single European State in one form or another. They will go on towards this aim. Dismiss any thoughts of, "changing the EU from within". This never was an option, now that should be clear to all and we must convince people of this. I, for one, have heard enough of the apologists saying that we must be in it to change it. We must tell the truth, again, that this is an unstoppable steamroller and that the only way is out.

From my notes of Barroso's 42 minute speech of Weds morning.

*(justifying the last 50 years) "It took the UK 150 years to double its GDP"
*The Commission takes the lead in sustainability/equality/ fairness/ growth
*Greece is a turning point
* the ECB will not finance Governments
* the Commission rules, with European Parliament oversight
* the FTT will cover banks and financial institutions need to be brought together
* there must be a Banking Union.
*There will be  Federation of nation States, guide for years to come, NOT a superstate!
* Sovereignty must be shared
*It must be a Union WITH the member states, not OF the member States.
*It needs a new treaty!
* needs a new EMU
* All nationalists and populists are bad!

*Especially, the Commission has today adopted EPP, European Political Parties, (which our party voted against last conference against the advice of those who actually take part in this European Parliament. It looks like we were right, if it means we will not be able to take part in the next European Parliament Elections unless we are in an EPP. Rather than join one we should start one, to preserve our main claim to electoral success)

This was followed by a round from all group leaders. Unusually, after Barosso Had summed up there was another round from group leaders and another Barosso summing up, 3 hours altogether. We wonder if this was a one off, or the shape of things to come.  

For the S & D Swaboda remarked that the EU was to be an emerging state, not a submerging one!

Verhofstadt, (leader of the Lib-Dems and former Belgian Premier) said it is not yet a federation and it must be a political entity, not an economic one.

**At this point the President interrupted proceedings to inform us of the decision of the German Constitutional Court, that the complaint had been rejected and so the ECB will go on. Some UK newspapers recorded that this was greeted by a standing ovation; no it was not.. The leftie side of the house gave it very good (seated) applause, our side of the house remained quiet.

Voting.  Thursday, the vote, "Proposal for a European Banking Union" passed with a large majority. Once implemented it will be the end of the Bank of England.

Wednesday. Votes on 4 Fishing reports to which I spoke on Tuesday evening, text and video on website, my speech being a catch-all because the 4 reports were lumped together as a Joint Debate (not uncommon). Of interest was that I was "blue carded" ie a blue card was waved to ask me a question. This was from Chris Davies (.Lib-Dem, North West) a leader, of sorts in the fishing debacle. He was trying to drive a wedge between UKIP MEPs  by asking about which UKIP MEPs supported him (ie wanted to preserve UK fishing) and who did not. I gave him no satisfaction in my reply so he crossed the floor of the house to sit beside me and bend my ear for 5 mins or so! All of which is because I, and the rest of us, want the CFP abolished, he wants to reform it.

Lastly a bit of humour. Today Lamberts, rapporteur of the "European Venture Capital Funds" report asked for a postponement of the final vote, adoption, of his report. That was, he said, because he had failed to get agreement with the Council on his report. He was going to ask, he said, if Council would agree today, in the chamber, but there was no one of the Council there! I counted up. There were just 12 Council Assistants present, no one in the front 3 rows where the actual Council members sit. So after Barosso's strident comments about a Federal Europe not one minister of any EU country could be bothered to attend Parliament, which is supposed to work in harmony with the Council.

Ís that a sign of Federal things to come?

Just to round of, a cutting from the press summary we get every day.-

Immigration - Law change could mean exodus of Russians to UK (Derby Evening Telegraph, p.14): "THE news that we could see a large exodus of Russian citizens coming into the UK is worrying. A law change in Latvia would see the right to citizenship handed to the children and grandchildren of all Latvians sent by Stalin and his Soviet successors into exile in Siberia. Many could end up in this country, as Latvians are entitled to live and work in the UK. (...). This law change could see the Latvian population in our towns and cities swell even more - we must regain control of our borders and getting out of the EU is the only way to do that. (Derek Clark UKIP MEP for the East Midlands)


Derek Clark MEP                                                       Strasbourg 13th Sept 2012

Joint Debate,- Fisheries


Speech to Parliament                             Tuesday 11th Sept 2012

Joint Debate,-  Fisheries


With fish stocks in serious decline in Europe's rich fishing grounds the CFP is a failure. And yet these reports are laced with the same old Euro-speak,- regulation, restrictions, prohibit.

Before the CFP most European fishermen, unhampered by bureaucratic interference, had been fishing responsibly, looking after their own waters and therefore handing on viable fisheries down the generations.

But the EU destroyed this culture of care and so now we have rules about Total Permissible Catch and the wretched discard policy which has decimated stocks.

If you don't like lessons from the past then try the present. Norway and Iceland still record good catches and find many species spawning well. But then, they ban discards and other destructive EU measures which, as noted in these reports, have reduced EU fishing fleets.

The UK fishing fleet is barely half its former size and so much of the fish sold in the UK now comes from Iceland. What an indictment of the CFP



Derek Clark   MEP                                                     Strasbourg 11th Sept 2012