How many people actually read the EU treatise texts? I read the draft EU Constitutional Treaty when I thought we may have a chance to tell Blair where to go, and I have read large chunks of some of the more recent treatise (Maastricht, Nice, Amsterdam).

But it was only this evening that I was directed to some of the unamended parts of the 1957 Treaty of Rome which established the organisation now known as the EU. The following passage should be read by all those who would seek to claim that it is a benign organisation with no draconian powers:

Article 12. In the territory of each Member State and whatever their nationality, officials and other servants of the Communities shall:

* (a)subject to the provisions of the Treaties relating, on the one hand, to the rules on the liability of officials and other servants towards the Communities and, on the other hand, to the jurisdiction of the Court in disputes between the Communities and their officials and other servants, shall be immune from legal proceedings in respect of acts performed by them in their official capacity, including their words spoken or written. They shall continue to enjoy this immunity after they have ceased to hold office;
* (b)together with their spouses and dependent members of their families, not be subject to immigration restrictions or to formalities for registration of aliens;

So to summarise: Europol can send people here who, in an official capacity, can break the law and never be liable for their actions. Diplomatic immunity for countries has sound reasons - to protect our own diplomats in similar situations abroad, but the EU needs not that power.

It’s late so I won’t go into a long detailing of all the other scary aspects of the EU’s treatise - I’ll just leave you with this thought:

The Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, shall lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding.

Source: Nice Treaty

The EU can effectively stop a party from raising funds… How long before troublesome eurosceptic parties are victims of the unknowable funding structure that is the EU?


Posted In: Political, News and Politics, EUssr, EU, Socialist, Labour