WGPlus (Archive)
Editorial commentary; No comment from Remainers about ‘How & Where’ EU is heading according to the Junker Plan! |
On 12 September 2018, on the occasion of his State of the Union Address, President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "We must improve our ability to speak with one voice when it comes to our foreign policy. This is why today the Commission is proposing to move to qualified majority voting in specific areas of our external relations. Not in all but in specific areas: human rights issues and civilian missions included. This is possible on the basis of the current Treaties and I believe the time has come to make use of the passerelle clause which allows us to move to qualified majority voting – the "lost treasure" clause of the Lisbon Treaty." The EU we decided to ‘leave’ with Article 50. no longer exists and the process for creating the United States of Europe is progressing at full speed (at least in Brussels), but we hear nothing from the Remainers on this topic (and even less from that bastion of national democracy & defender of our Constitution – the House of Lords). One wonders why the mainly pro-remain mainstream media has not even mentioned the future ‘elephant in the room’ of the UK’s & France’s permanent seats at the UN Security Council, as just one potential example of a natural consequence of these ‘new’ interpretations of EU treaties! If we stayed in the EU one could foresee a time when the EC would demand that its representative at the EU be given a permanent seat, while perhaps ‘offering up’ the second seat for allocation to India for example, to ‘better represent the new World Order’. Majority voting on Foreign Affairs could over-rule the UK’s and France’s objections to this. With the UK about to leave the EU, one wonders how President Macron will be able to justify France retaining its seat when majority voting decides the foreign policy of the EU, especially as Germany seems likely to increase its influence over the next 2 decades (BfB: Was Margaret Thatcher Right After All? Dangers of a Resurgent Germany by Adrian Hill). Other proposals are highlighted in Open Europe’s article and have two common elements:
EC proposes changes to decision-making in Common Foreign & Security Policy Open Europe: Europe reacts to Juncker’s “The Hour of European Sovereignty” speech Website on the 2018 State of the Union State of the Union 2018: EC proposes to put an end to seasonal clock changes State of the Union 2018: New EC proposal for a reinforced EU Asylum Agency State of the Union 2018: EC proposes new rules to get terrorist content off the web Regarding Mr Juncker ‘ridiculing’ Theresa May’s threat that Britain could build a rival satellite to the EU’s Galileo navigation system after Brexit, he would do well to consider the UK’s role in building that system. The International Trade Secretary said recently: “It is a remarkable if little known fact that 40% of all small satellites in orbit are manufactured in the UK, providing everyone from academic institutions to nation states with ready-made space capability. We also punch above our weight in the satcomms sector – being responsible for a truly impressive 20% share of all global satcomms and 25% share of the world’s telecommunications satellites” 3, 2, 1 .. Lift Off for a bright economic future Space sector to benefit from multi-£m work on UK alternative to Galileo UK poised for take-off on ambitious Defence Space Strategy with personnel boost Brexit in Space: Will the UK have Access to the Galileo Satellite Network? RUSI: A United Europe in Space? |