Eurotrash - the latest from Brussels
WORKERS, MAY 2006 ISSUE
Less is more?
When Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was in Britain to promote his book, United States of Europe, he said, "Every European poll has shown that a clear majority of Europeans backs further integration." He went on, "I believe that the citizens' doubts and uncertainty, as for example reflected in the two referendums, actually constitute a plea for more Europe, a strong Europe, and not for less Europe."In the beginning was the constitution...
The president of the European People's Party, Wilfred Martens, has called for a reference to 'God' to be included in any revived EU Constitution. He bemoaned the fact that there is "not a single reference to God" in the Constitution, adding, "We can't accept this to be the case indefinitely."
EU=ID
A leaked Home Office memo shows that the Blair government's push for ID cards is in order to meet EU requirements.
A haven for fraudsters
The National Audit Office published its annual report into the European Union's accounts on 29 March. There were nearly 10,000 cases of fraud totalling £667 million in 2004, up 12% on the previous year. Meanwhile, the EU's internal anti-fraud group has begun investigations into irregularities in the payment of salaries by the EU's Committee of the Regions. An internal audit report stated, "The code of ethics of the CoR is remarkable by its absence."
Journalists for sale
Some journalists have been getting subsidies from the European Parliament to encourage them to cover its proceedings, especially during the monthly trip to Strasbourg. The funding includes travel to Strasbourg and enough for a good hotel, food and entertainment for two days. The programme has been criticised for appearing to pay journalists for propaganda, although the Parliament insists that it is not paying for any type of coverage, just any coverage. One journalist said that he had refused to write a story about MEPs' perks because of the perks he received himself.