EU Defence Paper
EU Referendum is about the only place where you can get real information on the formation of the EU Army, the only other place I have seen any reference, is the Booker column in the Telegraph and Christopher Booker gets his information from the same source as Richard North, Here you can read the evidence which unequivocally points to the adoption of a “Europe first” policy on defence procurement, and a gradual, even stealthy reorganisation of British armed forces aimed at harmonising both doctrines and equipment with continental forces which are clearly set out in a “defence paper†researched and written by Dr North.
The items which have been uncovered by this investigation are completely off the scale of normal reporting which we get from the main media outlets, it is as if the major media live on a totally different planet.
It is clear that even as the evidence mounts for this ongoing defence integration that it simply cannot happen without the proper statutory instruments which allow the government to proceed.
“What we suspected was that, following the summit meeting between Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac in December 1998 at St. Malo - when Blair agreed to integrate Britain’s armed forces with those of the EU – there must have been a British government “directive” to the MoD telling it to adopt the new policy.
But, as we now learn, if there had been such a “directive” – and there surely must have been – this was not the primary executive instrument. This, it turns out was actually a new treaty, signed between the British government and five other nations – France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Sweden – on 27 July 2000.â€
But I hear you say; this new treaty passed through parliament, the people we elect must have agreed to so what’s the problem?
â€The treaty itself was signed on behalf of the UK government by the then Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, at the Farnborough Air Show, an event that was completely missed by the mainstream media and reported by specialists in the same misleading terms as the treaty title, viz: “Six European Nations sign defence industry restructuring treaty.”
“What happened then demonstrates much of what is wrong with our system of government and what passes for parliamentary scrutiny. To sign the treaty, Hoon invoked “Crown prerogative”, but it then had to be ratified. To do this, the government applied what is known as the Ponsonby Rule which simply means that the treaty is “laid” before parliament for 21 days and, in the absence of an objection, is deemed to be approved – the so-called “negative procedure”.
Read the full details and request a copy of the “defence report†EU Referendum
And what of the opposition in Parliament were they asleep, or perhaps the argument that the Tories are against further EU integration is just more misinformation.
EU Referendum looks into to this aspect as well: The dog that didn’t bark
“One of central tenets of Conservative Party policy on defence, most recently repeated in the 2005 election manifesto is that it supports European co-operation on defence but strongly believes that such co-operation should take place within the framework of Nato.
Yet, despite the dramatic intensification of European defence integration pursued by Blair’s Labour government – to which, it would seem the Conservatives are opposed in principle – the Conservative front bench has been mute on the developments which have occurred since Blair’s agreement with Chirac at St. Malo to re-energise the process.â€



















