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Blair bows to Brussels on rights
Update on the EU constitution.Tony Blair indicated yesterday that the Government could drop opposition to giving legal force to an EU charter of fundamental rights, allowing European judges to overturn British laws. He signalled that the Government was ready to discuss the incorporation of the charter in the proposed new constitution for an enlarged 25-member EU. The Tories accused the Government of "raising the white flag". Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and business leaders joined them in calling for a referendum on whether Britain should sign the constitution. Me too, donât forget me. Although a White Paper published yesterday setting out the Governmentâs negotiating stance confirmed that it would not hand over powers on tax, defence and foreign policy, it disclosed that the charter of rights would be a bargaining chip in negotiations starting in Rome next month. I thought bargaining was only done if you wanted something useful in return? Unless youâre negotiating terms of surrender, that is... No 10 insisted when the charter was drawn up three years ago that it was no more than a political declaration and promised that Britain would veto any attempt to incorporate it into EU treaties and make it legally binding. Keith Vaz, the minister for Europe at the time, claimed that it would have no more standing before EU judges than a copy of the Beano or The Sun. Are you guys beginning to see how the current UK government tries to do things re. European integration? Does the phrase "selling down the river" come to mind? It should do. The charter sets out 54 rights and breaks new ground by outlining social and economic rights, including the right to strike. It bans human cloning and restricts deportation to countries such as America that carry out the death penalty. How could we possibly live without it? The authors of the charter have long pressed for it to be given legal force and made "justiciable" in the courts of EU member states. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, told MPs that it did not give the EU any more powers. All these treaties, charters, constitutions... And yet Europe never seems to get any more powerful! How is that? And how stupid do Blair ânâ Co. think we are, exactly? He said the Government would make a final decision on incorporation of the charter in the constitution "only in the light of the overall picture at the inter-governmental conference" [in Rome]. However, the charter was not listed among "red line issues" on which the Government has threatened to use the veto if they are included in the final document. Mr Straw rejected repeated demands from MPs on both sides of the chamber for a referendum before Britain signed the new constitution. "Public approval for a Constitution? Pah! Why should we let the commoners interfere in that sort of thing?" The Government faced further controversy over the disclosure that, while publicly playing down the constitutionâs significance, the Prime Minister had privately described it as "absolutely fundamental". In a foreword to the White Paper he sought to counter the growing demands for a referendum by arguing that the proposed treaty did not "alter the fundamental constitutional relationship between the member states". Time to up the schizo meds, Tony? But Peter Hain, the Leader of the House, who represented the Government on the convention drafting the constitution, appeared to undermine those assurances. He told a newspaper that Mr Blair had told a Cabinet committee that the EU constitution was more important than Iraq. It would "define the relationship between Britain and the rest of Europe and the prospects for the euro and would last for generations". The only person who wonât admit that seems to be your boss, Peter. Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative leader, said: "You just canât believe a word the Prime Minister says. Publicly he is saying this is just a tidying-up exercise. "Now we know from Mr Hain that he said privately it was a fundamental issue that could last for generations." One problem with IDS is his propensity to come out with quotes which make himself sound stupid. The constitution is designed to simplify the EUâs structures to avoid bureaucratic deadlock when 10 new member states from eastern Europe and the Mediterranean join next May. Thatâs the BBC News line, anyway (stated as fact at the begining of every report). But critics At least Blairâs set himself tripwires with the "red lines". Soon as one goes (which surely they must come Romeâs horsetrading), even King Tony wonât be able to ignore the demands for a referendum. Iâm starting my own local referendum campaign now, anyway... It says also that Britain will insist on the right to patrol its borders and retain the principle of unanimity in changes to the EUâs fund-raising arrangements - aimed at safeguarding Britainâs multi-billion pound annual rebate. Border safeguards, we need. Tax control, we need. A European President, we donât need. A European foreign policy, we donât need. A new constitution, we do not need. This situation would be farcical if only it werenât true. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-09-10 |
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