eurotrash - the latest on brussels

WORKERS, APR 2005 ISSUE

Bush for EU Constitution
The US Ambassador to the EU, Rockwell Schnabel, says President Bush supports the EU Constitution. Schnabel reported that the President believed "America supports a strong Europe because we need a strong partner in the hard work of advancing freedom in the world". Clearly the US government thinks its foreign policy will be more effective in alliance with a militarised EU created by the EU Constitution. The USA and the EU have just agreed on new NATO cooperation including training Iraqi police forces and prison guards.

Spanish nutters?
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, thinks the result of the Spanish referendum on the EU Constitution is irrelevant. "This referendum was a non-event. The whole point about referendums is to settle an important issue where there are fundamentally different opinions. In Spain only nutters are against the constitution."

EU for worse
The new European Commission tried to relaunch its pro-employer Lisbon agenda in February. The European Trade Union Confederation, led by John Monks, responded, "This is a disappointing start for the new Commission because it risks presenting Europe as an agent for lower social standards, worse welfare states and poorer environmental standards." Wake up, John: that's exactly what the EU does — the EU Constitution would reinforce these trends.

They said it...
Anand Menon, Director of the European Research Institute, wrote to the Financial Times, on 1 March: "The European Commission is appointed and not elected. If it were elected, British business would have what it now lacks — a good reason to be sceptical of the merits of European integration. As it is, the main regulatory and bureaucratic authority in the European Union remains — mercifully — free from electoral pressures... continued British resistance to the notion of an elected Commission has been one of the reasons that such elections have never occurred."

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