The Bewilderness

The approaching Juncker moment

Cameron appointed Lord Hill as his Commissioner prospective, a pro-European Tory and a former special adviser to Kenneth Clarke. After the isolation, the Prime Minister may have viewed this appointment as an ameliorative measure. It cut no ice with the head of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz. Forgetting the limits of his constitutional power under the treaty, Schulz thundered that Hill would never become a Commissioner because he was a Eurosceptic Tory. Having only the power to vote down the entire set of Commissioners, Schulz soon sulked and backtracked muttering that gender balance was more important. Yet, for Britain, an important moment, reinforcing the Juncker moment. The visceral dislike and instant assumption of British Euroscepticism as an ideological taboo for EU positions means that negotiation for reform is unlikely to happen.

Now, Juncker is seeding the press with further comments on the British position and possibly preparing to render Lord Hill a non-entity. The choice of portfolio marks a clear sign of European perceptions in regard to the position of the UK in Europe. A minor portfolio suggests that Brexit is considered a positive option and there will be no compromise on a halfway house. A decent portfolio marks a negotiating concession. And if Britain doesn't leave, we are then sidelined as a walkover: this is known as the Miliband option and is the preferred future of the supine Liberal Democrats (the party without a backbone so they can U-turn as fast as possible).   

Not yet commissioned

Further word from the carve-up of spoils. The French have displayed no interest in the gender balance of the Commission batting away demands that at least half of the Commissioners should be women. "Non! Nothing to see here!" rumbles Hollande. They have their eyes on a prize. It isn't an inspiring or hopeful prize but when you belong to the European Union, you tend to get excited by such matters. To outsiders, it looks like your standard missionary position whereas if you are inside, orgasmic. 

I am, of course, speaking of no other portfolio than the Economic. After all, such paragons of growth as the French are enthusiastic about spreading the manure across the Continent.

In the event that Britain were to leave the EU, it would not be the French or Germans who would benefit but probably the Irish. Peter Casey makes a case for the island as a smuggler's paradise since no country would impose a border between Ulster and the Republic. They could try, but it would be unenforceable. 

If only the European Commission had the wisdon of Cnut.

The Consensus

The next stage on the Juncker wagon is the apportionment of spoils ("Commissioners") amongst the 27 countries. The new President could jump either way: keep Britain onside and build a bridge or gift Cameron's appointee with some trivial portfolio last held by Malta or Estonia, showing that if you oppose, you will be punished. Cue the chorus of Europhiles who will say ,anyone who doesn't agree with the European consensus>; Cameron this time;  is a poor player at diplomacy and should just agree to all the backroom deals and the consensus.  

Don't rock the boat! It may capsize!

The Committees are mine, my precious

The European federalists do not have the intelligence to understand that forcing their opponents to work within the system would have diluted their message. It would be much harder for Farage to claim that he opposes Europe if his MEPs were benefiting from its patronage. The federalist parties have helped the Eurosceptic cause. Undesirous of facing such unsanitary views as voting within the committee system, they have overridden the De Hondt system of allocation for committee places in order to exile the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD). This has been attacked as a "breach of protocol".

So they were so busy blocking democrats, they missed out the Neo-Nazi on the Civil Liberties Committee. Rather like having Saudi Arabia on the Human Rights Council at the UN, though Europarl has the decency to look embarrassed.

The centre holds for now

The hallmark of an incestuous political class that guards its influence like a Norfolk family protecting its genes. So, when we see four European Commissioners elected as MEPs under the auspices of their political family, we should not be surprised. They can join a new Parliament where the Europhile forces are less dominant and must resort to procedural chicanery to maintain the status quo. Still, the re-elected President, Martin Schulz, must be a brazen hypocrite for his actions:

In his acceptance speech, Schulz winked at those who did not vote for him and deplored the backroom deal. He vowed to be the president of those who have not supported him. “I hope to win the trust of those who did not put their trust on me today,” he said.  

Perhaps his resignation could go some way to restoring the trust of elected members in the Parliament. However, the pro-European coalition has less room for manoevre and will need to maintain a disciplined coalition that drowns out disaffected groups. A President who vouches for the democratic legitimacy of the European Parliament will work to silence the voice of MEPs who differ from ever closer union.

Yet, Herman Van Rompuy has acknowledged that the EU is seen as meddling and divisive, that there is a greater need for variable geometry and that a debate on the direction of Europe is required. Still, he remains wedded to the sacred nostrums of the political class and they are now pondering how to wed ever closer union with economic legitimacy. For, if they are unable to reignite growth in the EU and reverse its decline, that rump of Eurosceptic disaffection in the European Parliament will only increase.

Then, a Brexit would appear attractive: removal of a Eurosceptic tribe to preserve the core grand projet and the Presidency of Herr Schulz.

Time to brew the sweet smell of that Brexit coffee

Labour supported the Conservatives in opposing the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker to President of the European Commission. As a federalist, they were also unwilling to support further integration. Yet the headlines of "Britain isolated" brought some rich comments from Ed Balls on television this morning. As he stated, never had he seen such a "cack-handed" negotiation. (This seemed rather surprising, since there are so many examples from the previous Labour administration: General Practitioners, Treaty of Lisbon, etc etc).

Whilst the news from the continental press remains quiet in the aftermath of this repeat (Britain versus the rest), Labour's opportunistic spin falls on sterile ground, given the messenger (just as Cruddas bemoans his leader's leadership in the Sunday Times). The two initial conclusions from the appointment of Juncker is that there is no European constituency for the repatriation of powers and the appetite for real reform is retreating.

Given the choice between ever closer la la land and reality, the European Council chose a make-believe country called Europe and took the brakes off Brexit.   

Europe Juncked

A story that we have not seen for a long time: A British Prime Minister isolated in Europe with the spin of principle attempting to obscure the overwhelming defeat. And the battle chosen over the new European President was symbolic but a diversion.

When Cameron had the opportunity to retain powers, especially in the field of criminal justice, he signed them away. I reserve nothing but contempt for a government that upholds the European Arrest Warrant and puts our population at the mercy of laws which are not a criminal offence in this country. His whole performance is a tactical charade designed to appease his backbenchers.

Juncker, the 'leading candidate' of the Christian Democrats in the European Parliement, has interpreted the results of the European elections as a legitimation of the leading candidates. However, as more decisions of the Commission, undermine British national interests, the elite on these islands is becoming ever warier of Brussels.  

Some would argue that a Union which no longer takes the interests of one of its largest members into account (and has economically devastated most of its southern periphery) is beyond reform. The rejection of the populist protests in many countries is indicative of this. 

Cameron has been bruised by his encounters with Europe. It is not clear what his next steps will be, but a further dilution of Member State powers has taken place with the co-operation of EU leaders who have become further ciphers in a process where obscure non-entities are elected by a clownish Parliament who claim to represent a people that could not recognise them. 

Elite convergence, voter divergent

Syed Kamall and the British Conservative group in Parliament reacted strongly to a proposed reorganisation of the committee structure in the European Parliament. The proposal included a new sub-Committee for the Eurozone with powers over monetary union, financial regulation and banking. Unsurprisingly, patriots saw the implications for Brtish interests and the Eurofanatical Liberal Democrats jumped at the chance to do down their own country.

Yet, this is increasingly the fate of Britain within the current structures of the European Union. Marginalisation and the defeat of our interests by a convergent bloc that is divorced from their voters and has presided over economic ruin. Only the ballot box can upset this trend. And it probably will....

Fracked by Europe?

Well, the coalition government has taken up fracking. The regulation is overkill and the local communities have to be bribed. All of this is caused by restrictive planning laws and property rights. Anything on the surface is the property owners, but underneath belongs to the state. 

Even with the most restrictive planning laws devised, Europe is not satisfied. The Green MPs are calling the bribery of local communities state aid and the European branch of the Commission wants every well to have ten thousand reports in triplicate, just in acase a woodlouse is washed away.

Jobs, energy competitiveness and the sucking sound of the Eurozone economy howling into the void do not sway these acolytes from their track. 

All must be eaten by the undead Commission and its raft of zombie regulators. 

I want to make my mark on the BreXit ballot

The Liberal Democrats promised, once upon a time, in their manifesto that the British electorate should hold an In-Out referendum on EU membership. Soon after, they reneged on this promise. Their reasons for this change have never held water. Their unprincipled nature is clear. Every policy adopted is clothed in sanctimonious and hypocritical language though it is designed for naked advantage. This extends from House of Lords reform to the proportional representation vote.

It is an unedifying sight to watch unelected Lords, put their through the patronage of their parties, conspire to remove the right of the British public to vote on the most important relationship in this polity. Their actions show that they do not trust us and that is reflected straight back at these apparatchiks. 

For an issue of such importance, and as an opportunity which Labour and the Liberal Democrats loathe, the Tory government should use the Parliament Act to force through this democratic measure. We deserve no less.