eurealist.co.uk

Looks like Labour Movement for Europe trolls are out today.

This from the Independent

Sir: Marc Glendening is talking through his hat in when he mentions the “over-centralised structures of the EU” (Letters, 27 March). The EU can only legislate with the approval of the ministers from its member states in the Council and any legislation requires well over a two-thirds majority of their votes to be adopted - hardly a structure in which power is centralised.

The central administration itself (the Commission) has a smaller staff than Leeds City Council or the BBC. The commissioners are nominated by the member states.

The proposed constitutional treaty will not increase the areas with EU competence - the key political issues such as health, education, pensions and taxation will still be legislated on by national parliaments.

PAUL BLANCHARD

My letter to the Independent, with thanks for the stolen material Eureferendum I wonder if they will publish it?

Sir, I assume the Paul Blanchard who responded to Marc Glendening is the same Paul Blanchard who is also Labour Party councillor at the City of York Council and member of the Labour Movement for Europe. If so it is clear why he repeated the hoary old fiction concerning the size of the EU Commission Staff being smaller than Leeds City Council or the BBC, and inviting your readers to infer from that there is no over-centralised structures of the EU.

The very fact he mentions it indicates the centralization he is denying, in any case it is a specious argument there are many historical examples of very small numbers of people dominating large populations, not least the British Raj. When 300 million Indians were ruled by barely 1,500 British administrators of the Indian Civil Service, and perhaps 3,000 British officers in the Indian Army. Excluding British soldiers, there were probably no more than 20,000 Britons engaged in running the whole country – fewer than the number of permanent officials currently employ-ed by the Commission.

The fact is that those directly employed by the Commission are only the tip of a a very large the iceberg “Brussels” acts the centre of a network, linking thousands of other organisations throughout the Community, not least the civil services of all the member states. The preparation of much legislation and many of the technical reports is contracted out, or otherwise farmed out to outside agencies, ranging from paid contractors, universities and other academic institutes, think-tanks and even the growing legion of non-governmental organisations in the pay of the commission.

Mr Blanchard is also attempting to mislead when he writes that the EU can only legislate with the approval of the Council, it is the Commission who has the only right to instate legislation in the EU and QMV means that our ministers can and often are outvoted.

The EU Constitution in fact gives the EU sweeping new powers, not lease it allows the European Council new powers to change the treaty without recourse to national governments, it transforms the EU into an international actor in it own right, for the first time makes its laws and its constitution superior to states laws and constitutions. It extends QMV to 27 new policy areas, this means the loss of any national veto in theses areas, it makes Britain constitutionally committed at the Union level to the ultimate goal of a common defence. The Constitution gives the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, binding legal force. Etc.

Health, education, pensions and taxation might still be legislated by national parliaments but only under the overarching umbrella of the EU because the EU already influences all of these areas.

It would be helpful in any debate about the EU if those who are strong proponents for the project were to limit themselves to the truth instead of cloaking their intentions in a series of specious illogical and misinformed letters to the national press.