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| Europe |
| Britain Becomes A Vassal State Of Brussels |
| 2009-12-02 |
| At midnight last night, we ceased to be an independent state, bound by international treaties to other independent states, and became instead a subordinate unit within a European state. Under the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force today, Europe acquires “legal personality”, which gives it the right to sign accords and treat with other states. Nor is this right simply theoretical: the EU now has a foreign minister, a diplomatic corps (the European External Action Service) and 160 overseas embassies. Until yesterday, the EU could not annex additional policy areas without a new treaty, which needed to be ratified by all its constituent nations. Now, it has the so-called “passerelle” clause, or self-amending mechanism. Parliament, in other words, no longer has the final say on extensions of EU jurisdiction. The EU derives its authority, not from its 27 members, but from its own foundational texts. Until yesterday, Britain could simply walk out of the EU by abrogating the Treaty of Rome and repealing the 1972 European Communities Act. Henceforth, it will have to go through the secession procedure laid down in Lisbon. In other words – in the minds of Euro-lawyers, at any rate, if not of British constitutionalists – the EU gets to settle the terms on which its members are allowed to leave. Formal sovereignty has been shifted from the national capitals to Brussels. It is appalling, demeaning, disgraceful that such a thing should have been done without popular consent, and in the absence of the referendum that all three parties had promised. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #9 Hannan misses one key point with his It is appalling, demeaning, disgraceful that such a thing should have been done without popular consent. Liberty must be fought for. You long ago gave up the right to those items necessary for the fight. The birth of America was not a majority vote at the time. It was what a minority was willing to fight for and demonstrate to convince others that it was worth it. The Brits couldn't even mount a large scale rally lik MLK. They have disappeared with nary a whimper. UK RIP |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-12-02 09:33 |
| #8 The new flag of the EU: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/mluphoup/neu_eu_flag.jpg Featuring the "dead crow" symbol of the Holy Roman Empire. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-12-02 07:52 |
| #7 There are times for ballots, and then there are times for bullets. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-12-02 04:02 |
| #6 It is appalling, demeaning, disgraceful that such a thing should have been done without popular consent Democracy is a failure, according to the EU. You will now be ruled by the Council of Alphas. Your popular opinions do not matter as you're simply not qualified to comment on government. Surely you understand this and you are being ruled for your own good. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-12-02 02:43 |
| #5 Why? The Soviet Union had three seats in the General Assembly. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2009-12-02 01:33 |
| #4 Good point, though. If the EU is a nation, they only get one seat. Both in the General Assembly and in the Security Council. |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-12-02 01:26 |
| #3 There's irony in there somewhere. "Belgium is a country invented by the British to annoy the French." |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-12-02 01:23 |
| #2 Does that mean they now only get one seat in the U.N. General Assembly and 1 single seat on the security council? If not then they United States should get 50 votes (57 if your Obama) in the general assembly. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-12-02 01:04 |
| #1 We're gonna save a fortune consolidating embassies. Even better, big campaign contributors will now get ambassadorships to Angola and Pakistan. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-12-02 00:28 |