On the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome,an event that Harold McMillian thought beneath the dignity of the British public,how are our nationals treating that institution.
Middle England still has many concerns.
The Express is running the results of a survey that says
HALF OF EU HATE EURO
The survey of 17,000 people for British think-tank Open Europe showed 49 per cent of people in the 13 euro countries want to get rid of it.Majorities in just six countries want to continue with the currency.And the poll said that in 11 states without the euro, people were against it.
50 years of surrender to the EU says the Mail
It's article refers to the extravagent cost of the celebrations in Berlin this evening
But
For years now, most of the economies of the EU, burdened by an ever greater weight of regulations from Brussels, have been performing significantly worse than those of their main competitors across the rest of the world, notably the U.S., China and India.
In many of the areas which are now subject to centralised EU control, from fishing and agriculture to international trade, it is scarcely a well-kept secret that the EU's record, characterised by massive bureaucratic overregulation, has been dismal.
They have the sense that they are now ruled by a 'political class', made up of bureaucrats and politicians who are no longer in any way democratically accountable; a vast, shadowy apparatus of government over which we no longer have any say.
The result is that, not just in Britain but all over the EU, people feel alienated from those who rule over them, in a way which, in countries which still like to think of themselves as democracies, is quite unprecedented.
Fair and reasoned argument? Yes quite possibly
To the Telegraph that reports on the Berlin summit,
Tony Blair will join Europe's leaders today to declare, amid great pomp and ceremony, that "we the citizens" are ready for an EU Constitution Mark II within two years.
A "Berlin declaration" is the centrepiece of a weekend of grand and lavish celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the EU's original Treaty of Rome.
Charles Moore writes
Happy birthday to EU, happy . . .? where he lists a weeks worth of bearocracy including
A British farmer is forced to destroy his £500,000 herd of cattle under EU rules because of irregularities between their passports and their ear-tags.
But remembering
The original Six have become 27, and, although most people are not thrilled by membership, the queue to join has always been bigger than the number determined to stay out. As for a queue to leave, there isn't one.
All the member states are democratic, all are at least reasonably prosperous, and all, within their borders, are at peace. We critics get our tone wrong if we make comparison with the Soviet Union, the Third Reich or even the brief empire of Napoleon. There is, behind it all, some goodwill, some public consent, and therefore some legitimacy. We are not confronting enemies, but misguided friends.
They - the Euro-enthusiasts - have failed to get the masses to sing the Ode to Joy, but we, the British Euro-sceptics, have not galvanised our own nation with our devotion to a sovereign Parliament. Most British people agree that this country would do better to retain and recover its own powers, but not very hotly.
The Indy was launched on a pro European platform and has deviated litle over its 20 year life.A front page fom earlier in the week listed 50 good things that have come out of European membership.Indeed its fornt page lead looks at a joint European role to tackle the Darfur issue.
Like the Telegraph it straight reports the summit
Berlin Declaration marks EU's birthday
Though the text has been shorn of some of its most controversial elements, Ms Merkel set alarm bells ringing among Eurosceptics with an interview in the German newspaper Bild Zeitung in which she burnished her credentials as a supporter of European integration. She said: "Within the EU itself, we will have to move closer to establishing a common European army. The EU Commission will become better able to act on the basis of clearly regulated responsibilities.
In the comment pages though Dominic Lawson asks
Is 50 years of the European Union cause for celebration or regret? and discusses
There is the other side of Europe, the one that seeks to run our lives rather than set us free.
The Guardian runs a feature by Ian Traynor asking
Prosperity, peace and unity - and a midlife crisis painting a picture of A Europe with the advantages of 50 years of integration set against the past
"I'm a beneficiary of the EU," says Jaroslaw Janczak, a young Polish political scientist in Slubice, working at a university in Frankfurt an der Oder. "But when I told my grandmother I was going to work in Germany, she thought I was in danger, I was being punished for something. They went through the war, and for that older generation, Germany is still the embodiment of evil."
The Times reports from Berlin
EU looks to the next 50 years – and an army?
Angela Merkel got Europe’s 50th birthday weekend off to a controversial start yesterday when she said that the creation of a European army should be a key goal in its next 50 years.
The German Chancellor added hastily that she did not want to steer Europe towards a federal superstate. But her words ignited a simmering row about the relationship between Nato and the growing number of small EU military missions.
Mrs Merkel said that peace could not be taken for granted despite Western Europe’s longest period without internal conflict and suggested that a common army could help to bind countries closer together. Her suggestion was shot down immediately by Britain, which strongly opposes the creation of a rival organisation to Nato, although it does support the limited EU joint rapid reaction units sent to help out in crisis areas such as Aceh, hit by the 2005 tsunami.
So have we got past the Delors reporting.It is quite noticeable that neither the Sun nor the Mirror pay much attention to the celebrations in Berlin.Taking out the Express,the papers generally have given a balanced discusion.
Recognising the positives that Europe offers but wary of further integration
No comments:
Post a Comment