Britain’s euroscepticism hardens

denis cooper

People might like to read the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism that was signed by eurogroup ministers on July 11th.

This is only a draft I've found on a Finnish website:

http://stuff.samassaveneessa.info/docs/ESM201105draft.pdf

because I haven't yet been able to find the official final version - the European Council website responds with "File not found".

Reading the general provisions, the intention seems to be to create a transnational body which not only enjoys special financial privileges but is effectively above and outside the scope of all normal law.

Cynic

"Despite all this, the majority of the public think Britain will still be an EU member in 2021. Given the seemingly strong support for leaving, this may seem surprising " Given the determination of those in power to ignore the wishes of the populace it isn't surprising at all. Also given the EU dependency via pensions of many of those in power it becomes self-evident that we can't hope for any salvation from Westminster. Further, given the tendency for the MSM (apart from the Daily Express) to fail to support any push for a referendum, there is little hope from that quarter, while the BBC actively campaigns for the EU. If we want freedom and liberty, we shall have to take matters into our own hands, it seems.

denis cooper

"There will be opportunities for Britain to maximise what we want in terms of our engagement with Europe."

Even if such opportunities did arise, there's no reason to believe that Cameron would make any use of them.

He didn't last time - he gave the eurozone countries the radical treaty amendment they wanted, and the "good and fair price" he extracted for that was just a non-binding political agreement that we shall be excused from any further participation in one of illegal eurozone bailout mechanisms.

He could have just said "We've come to the conclusion that this scheme is illegal under the treaties as approved by our Parliament, so we will be taking no further part in it."

If necessary he could have quietly added:

"Any fuss, and we'll be saying it in public rather than in private."

It's that amendment to Article 136 TFEU, effectively over-turning the "no bail-out" clauses which were considered fundamental to EMU, which is allowing the eurozone states to set up the European Stability Mechanism.

As cited in the Preamble to the treaty, linked above:

"WHEREAS ...

... On 25 March 2011, the European Council has adopted a decision adding to Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union the following paragraph: "The Member States whose currency is the euro may establish a stability mechanism to be activated if indispensable to safeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole. The granting of any required financial assistance under the mechanism will be made subject to strict conditionality"."

That treaty amendment cannot come into force until it has been ratified by all EU member states, and Parliament could still refuse to pass the Bill to approve it.

However given the slavish attitudes of almost all the coalition MPs I don't expect that will happen, especially since both peers and MPs pre-authorised Cameron to agree to it.

Charles Martel

Its not that hard to understand why many Brits think we will still be in the EU come 2021 - not one of the three main parties have honoured their commitments to the British public on the EU. No-one believes them.

The media is pathetic also, well-to-wall news on the media/phonehacking circle jerk saga, yet the Eurozone is imploding and is regarded as a footnote.

Take a look at what the public DO regard as major issues - economy & immigration.
The public don't really understand the relationship between the EU and the above issues, though increasingly people are becoming aware. This will explode, but we are not quite there... just yet.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey.

Mr. Bubbles

It's quite obvious why we wish to leave but don't think we will: we know full well that our politicians do not wish to leave and will therefore not give us a referendum on the matter because they fear the answer.

teledu

"...it's worth remembering that the public as a whole simply don't regard Europe as a major issue."
Our membership of the EU is a cancer. It will have to be addressed eventually. In the meantime more immediate problems take centre stage. It's rather like going to A&E with a very painful but non-life threatening bone break and with a less painful but fatal long term illness. People want the immediate pain stopped, the treatment of the long-term illness is just put back. As the BBC and much of the media make little or no effort to inform the public of the EU's negative effect on the UKs health, there's not the clamour for "treatment" that it deserves.

Dave B

" it's worth remembering that the public as a whole simply don't regard Europe as a major issue"

This is often trotted out. It's misleading at best.

If you look at the issues that do top the IPSOS/MORI list, you'll see they are areas affected by our membership of the EU. With regulations drafted in Brussels:
Immigration
Economy/Unemployment
Crime

These are all directly affected by legislation/regulation from the EU.

mongoose

@ denis cooper 6:13pm
Well done finding the missing EU text in such an obscure place!
The website “samassaveneessa” translates as “in the same boat” and is maintained by Aki Järvinen, an unemployed PhD in biotechnology in Kuopio on furthest eastern fringe of the EU. How did this key document break cover there?

boudicca

The general public don't regard the EU as a major issue because they simply don't understand that it controls about 75% of the policy issues which affect the UK, and is completely unaccountable to them, the taxpayer.

Our politicians and the mainstream media conspire to keep them ignorant. For instance, Philip Hammond will not admit that the proposed HS2 rail line is an UK objective. Cameron will not admit that his 'localism' bill is pursuing the EU's agenda of splitting up the UK into regions.

A majority instinctively know that membership of the EU has been bad for the UK, but they do not have the facts to back up their belief. All the time the mainstream media (esp. the BBC) get away with promoting the EU or at best ignoring the issues, they will not have that information.

The 2014 EU Parliament elections may be a game changer if (as seems likely) UKIP wins a resounding victory. But - unless UKIP makes a dramatic breakthrough in British politics (which is possible but not likely) or the EU implodes under the weight of its own arrogance, absurdities and debt, I guess we will still be in its grip in 2021.

Cameron won't get my vote and I hope he pays the price for his betrayal of the British people.

FvH

We've beaten Latvia in the sceptic league at last!!
Nothing will happen - big business and industry want us in because of single market
It's become a sort of right wing CND equivalent - people channeling their energy on an out of reach goal

Andrew Shakespeare

David Cameron is full of crap. "Opportunities to renegotiate" indeed! He said the same thing back when he announced that he would seek a repatriation of powers.

He even cited the example of a change to the Lisbon Treaty. This, he said, would be the sort of lever he would use to ensure a return of powers. In the event, he simply whipped it through Parliament without a power returned or a single clause renegotiated.

He hasn't even attempted to "limit the impact of the Working Time Directive", as specified by the coalition agreement. But he HAS, periodically, made Eurosceptic-sounding noises, just to fob off the Eurosceptics in his party and keep his backbenchers quiet. On every occasion, he's done bugger all about it, and I haven't the slightest doubt he will do likewise this time too.

In the same interview, he said, "They don't get much more Eurosceptic than me." For God's sake, do you actually believe this blarney? What if he told you he was Lord God Almighty -- would you believe that too?

disenfranchised

i look at our politicians, and i look at their EU masters, and i look at my boots, and i wonder; god, how i wonder.
is it now the job of this power elite to make our lives as unhappy as possible, because i, for one, would like to know what i did to deserve such treatment.
i'd like to know the charge. i'd like to know the nature of my crime.
because if it was making my way in life without a penny of help, diligently paying my taxes, never getting into debt, and always trying to be a good citizen, then i'm as guilty as hell.....

Vulture

I agree with all the posters here who say that this issue will come to the boil when people realise that the issues they do care about - jobs, immigration, crime, housing - are directly linked to our membership of the corrupt mess that is the EU.

You can ignore popular opinion for ages, but eventually ( see the Murdoch example) something explodes. The EU is intrinsically unstable and will be swept away by the coming tsunami.

denis cooper

mongoose -

I just put "Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism" into google, and the first and only reference which successfully led to a text was some forum where somebody's comment took me through to the Finnish website ... I think they'd got it from the Finnish Treasury.

But I find that the final version is available in html from the first reference, which is the European Council.

Bugsy

You are right boudiccea - but where will you find a political party, likely to be elected, that hasn't betrayed us. New Labour (not a socialist in sight) betrayed us, sold us down the river and beggared us. The yanks have a term for it which can't be used here.