Euronotes - The latest from Brussels
WORKERS, OCT 2007 ISSUE
The Guardian wakes up
In September the TUC passed a motion from the GMB calling on the government to hold a referendum on the new version of the EU Constitution. The Guardian noted that "...Europe is not just a rightwing preoccupation. ... The TUC debate today demonstrates that the sceptics are far from defeated. Indeed, we may be witnessing a...shift within the British left, from support to opposition to Europe."New for old
The new EU Treaty is the old EU Constitution; both establish the European Union with power over national states. The 1992 'three-pillar system', which left some elements of national sovereignty, would disappear.
Most of the differences between the two are lawyers' tricks. For example, the statement in the Constitution that EU law had primacy over national law will be dropped – but replaced by a statement in an annex to the Treaty, which says that "primacy of EC law is a cornerstone principle of Community law."
Other changes would give even more powers to the EU. For example, a new article in the Treaty obliges all national parliaments to "contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union". This is the first time any EU treaty has told national parliaments how to act.
What the people think
Many British people see through this charade. A recent Mori poll showed that 81 per cent want a referendum on the new EU Treaty; with 66 per cent feeling strongly that there should be a vote. Only 17 per cent agreed with Gordon Brown that Parliament should decide.
A YouGov poll of 1,000 trade union members found that 73 per cent want a referendum on the Constitutional Treaty – 27 per cent thought that MPs should have the final say.
And 42 per cent agreed that "It would be bad for trade union members like me if more decisions were taken at the European level in Brussels" – 18 per cent thought this would be a good thing. A third of trade unionists said that they would be less likely to vote Labour in the next election if Brown refused to give people a say in a referendum. Only 4 per cent were more likely to vote Labour.