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The renewed Europe
by Thanos Kalamidas
2015-05-16 09:30:05
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The renewed British government has an element Cameron’s previous government didn’t have. After four years sharing power and often compromising with a pro-European party, now they are free to show their true feelings about EU and with the support of the majority of the British people. Not that the Tories ever hidden their distaste – to put it mildly – to anything from Brussels, after all even during the euro-elections they avoided confrontations with anything anti-Brussels and they let Glegg to do all the dirty job.

e01_400David Cameron by principal and by opportunism is obliged to follow Thatcher’s dogmas about EU. We want an EU with a relaxed, mainly commercial relationship between the member states and Brussels with minimum power, mainly in the role of the mediator and regulator between members and nothing more. As far the immigration there is an even older dogma, perhaps a bit exaggerated here but not far from the truth; we don’t want EU’s free migrations because we already have a lot of migration from the old colonies and we prefer them from all these east Europeans because they are better “trained” from us, they love the queen and they know the language. I repeat this is an exaggeration, but the numbers who voted Ukip (despite the number of elected MPs) prove that it is not far from the truth.

Soon after the finalization of Cameron’s victory, the renewed interior minister, Theresa May added some more points to upset Brussels. According to Mrs May the British government is planning to end the jurisdiction rights of the European Charta for the human rights and European court for human rights in Great Britain. I suppose your mind is gone to the negative stance of the USA to the Hague international court, due to war crimes endangering to find even former presidents in the stand of the accused. Partly you are right but the majority of the cases that have reached and most of the time vindicated by the European court of human rights were cases of migrants having lived slavery, trafficking and chronic abuse from UK citizens. And they moved their cases to the European Court feeling that the British courts would focus more in their illegal status than what really happened to them leaving the real guilty to escape punishment. We can even go to smaller crimes.

The European court has prosecuted a lot of cases of UK citizens who bought land in occupied north Cyprus from the occupants despite the fact that the democracy of Cyprus apart of EU full member is also member of the British Commonwealth since 1961 which makes it look like betraying a brother. In those cases the rightful owners of the land have been vindicated and some of them have actually managed to take back the titles of their land even though still in occupied territories. This is also going to end.

But it is not only migrants and foreigners who have seek for justice in the European Courts. A lot of UK citizens, especially social minorities - including gay and handicap rights groups - feeling prejudice from the British juridical system have found justice in the European courts. This is going to stop according to Mrs May.

e03_400Furthermore the PM David Cameron announced the beginning of negotiations with Brussels for a series of issues bringing the example of the migration but really it’s all about money. Truth said, Great Britain is perhaps the biggest money donor to the EU. Not that Britain has not profited from the relationship, on the contrary UK has profited big and in many way but in the eyes of the people it looks like Britain gives an unbelievable amount of mine every year to the bureaucrats in Brussels while there are unemployed and homeless in Britain. Of course if you look at it superficially they are right but in this case things are not what they look like. However David Cameron made it clear during his campaign – and before – that this has to end. Britain has needs, especially in periods of recession, and not the luxury to feed the Brussels bureaucracy. His aim is to limit this yearly donation to 20%. A bit drastic but a country with the British economic power and not member of the Eurozone and Maastricht agreement has the power to negotiate something like that.

Now even if Britain limits its donations by 20% and not to 20% the result will be at least devastating for EU. There is no way the French under present economic situation would be able to offer more than what they give and no other European member can march the British amount. That means that all the weight falls on Germany. Undoubtedly Germany has money, after all the money laundering from the unification masquerade hasn’t finished yet. But Germany also has unemployment and also has homeless and needed and no money for spending to cover the British obligations.

The first reaction was immediate and came from the German representative of the German domination in EU economics the German finance minister Mr Wolfgang Schaeuble. There will be no negotiations about money with Britain until euro is strengthen. Immature and definitely the wrong reaction. Britain is not part of the euro-zone and Cameron’s priority is to strengthen the pound even if that means that euro will go to hell. Actually the first British reaction came from the president of the British Bank calling the Prime Minister to go for a referendum soon.

David Cameron has promised a referendum planning to do one in 2017, having the two year time to negotiate and improve the British position in EU. But the situation has changed since Cameron said that a year ago. First, two years wait creates a climate of insecurity in the market - are we going to still be members of the free European market or not – second the German behaviour provokes badly and thirdly this was the main reason Cameron took the majority. If he will fail to do something even his own MPs will turn against him and he will see the euro-sceptics of the Ukip triumphing in the next chance sending the conservative party in the third place.

David Cameron is obliged somehow by principal and by opportunism as I said in the beginning to negotiate with EU to the point that might bring a break and make a Britexit true.

e02Now all the above minor the possibility of a referendum – at least for now – apply also for Finland. Finland’s new government includes a partner which is not afraid to make public its opposition to most of the EU legislations, EU migration policies, EU free movement. Finland also faces an economic reality that for years was covered inside a false balloon of growth. Finland’s lethal mistake – at least for me – was to move from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy depended from one and only private company without planning that the market constantly changes and this company one day might die. The day came and Finland was far from prepared. The euro-crisis just made things worse and despite the good front window the Finnish economy in true is not far better than the Greek economy or at least from how the Greek economy was back in 2009 before the debt crisis really exploded.

But the participation of the fascist True/Pure Finns in the Finnish government has added some new elements that we are going to find out the next few weeks. The new Finnish government is going to keep the same quota of refuges entering the country. This is highly noticeable since Finland is the European country with the smallest quota far behind the next and that in a period where international crisis demand the help of the international community. But the major change is coming with the fact that the new Finnish government is going to change a pan-European and fundamental element, the one that says that European laws are superior to national laws. This has stopped till now a lot of misunderstandings and behaviours that violate basic features of democracy. For example it stopped in Hungary laws that violate the freedom of speech and press. Stopped laws that discriminate in Poland and stopped legislations with prejudice foundations in Slovakia.

Apart from that not allowing European laws to interfere in a state where a xenophobic and crypto-racist party rules endangers not only the wellbeing of every immigrant and foreigner but even the wellbeing of every EU citizen since they are not protected from the EU laws. Actually every single foreign even investment is in danger. The excuse of the president of the True/Pure Finns Party, Timo Soini, that foreigners and foreign investments are welcome to Finland as long they cover the nations' labour needs is like a smoke screen. What does he mean with labour needs, that only if you are a certified and experience doctor from an approved by the True/Pure Finns' prejudices country you are welcome in Finland? Or that every investment is welcome as long success is guaranteed and the money are kept and spend in Finland?

But all these are partly a result of the policies that dominate this minute EU and UK with Finland are just the first examples on how these policies make people react when they see these policies apply in other countries and fear that their turn might come.

Europe this minute is dominated by Merkelism, a political and economic dogma which wants Europe ruled by far-right economic and social policies. An aggressive and conquering capitalism that by definition cannot work in contemporary global economy. Ironically, a global economy that Germany helped to construct and implement.

Whatever happens with the fascists True/Pure Finns in Finland in the end of the day it is the Finns who have to live with it and whatever happens with Cameron’s Britain it will be the Brits that will have to live with it. Both nations are going to see their welfare state disappear in smoke all in the name of the economic growth and the bad immigration that “profits” from the benefits. Both nations and especially Finland will feel how tragic it is to lack democracy in a society that grew with democracy and both nations are going to need long time from the wounds this period will open when it is over.

But the problems don’t stop in the British or the Finnish boarders. All these decisions will affect every single European country and probably the whole world. If Finland can do this things so why Hungary cannot apply its prejudice laws for the freedom of speech and freedom of press and why Poland or Estonia cannot legalize prejudice? And then it will be too late to talk about a return to the fundamentals. The fundamentals of the EU will be murdered in the streets of Helsinki, of London and Berlin. And all this will have happened because the European leadership lacked the power to take political decisions and let its future to people with political agendas.

The renewed British government and new xenophobic-fascist Finnish government – I know that my Finnish friends don’t like it but a partnership with evil doesn’t make you less angel, on the contrary it make you more evil – draw a new day for Europe that carries absolutely nothing positive. What remains to see is how long these dark days will last and how high will be the price to pay for everybody.


         
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Emanuel Paparella2015-05-16 16:13:07
What did Lord Acton say? "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." What Machiavelli's political philosophy (the paradigm of present polities) fails to analyze is how democracies far from being destroyed by external threats decay destroy themselves from the inside by an abuse of power. Eventually by a slow erosion of liberty and human rights, all that there is left is absolute power, and little else. Time will tell of course, but the signs are ominous.


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