Filed under: Commission
Following our recent Referendum protest which I wrote about here it seems as though we have irked some of the unelected members of the Commission, including Commissioner Margot Wallstrom.
On her blog she recently wrote,
“Last week was busy – I was in Oslo at the Nobel Prize award (my husband could afterwards only speak about Uma Thurman who was also there. I wished for George Clooney…!). Then it was Strasbourg for the proclamation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, followed by Lisbon for the signing of the Treaty. While in Strasbourg, the Parliament had its debate on the Treaty. The speech of Jose Socrates the Portuguese Prime Minister was disrupted by the noisy antics of some eurosceptic MEPs who behaved like the bunch of big-mouthed, red-faced, grumpy old men that many of them seem to be….. And it was a confusing demonstration: don’t they know that Member States decide themselves on whether or not to hold referenda? It is definitely not an issue for the European Parliament”.
Never one to be backward in coming forward I left Margot a comment which I thought set out our perfectly legitimate reasons for the protest into context:-
“As one of the big-mouthed, red-faced, grumpy old men castigated by the Commissioner, may I say that I would never be so discourteous as to pass pejorative comments on Mrs Wallstrom’s appearance — she is a very handsome woman. However I am shocked by the towering contempt which she and her fellow Commissioners show for public opinion. They speak of “A Europe of values based on democracy”, but they then dismiss the overwhelming view of the French and Dutch voters on the Constitution in 2005. I am shocked by the deceit and cynicism with which they bring back essentially the same text, and pretend that it is different. I am shocked by the seven member-state governments that were elected on a promise of a referendum, but are now breaking their word. I regretted the need to disrupt the proceedings of the House, but how else are we to represent the views of the people when the institutions refuse to listen? The fact is that for five minutes the Presidents of the Commission, the parliament and the council were forced to listen to the demands of the people. And they hated it.”
Margot has left a new response which seems to miss the point somewhat:-
“Thank you Roger Helmer MEP for taking the time to post in my blog. Here is how I see it: You have been elected to and have accepted to be a Member of the European Parliament and to respect Parliamentary rules and norms of behaviour. You are well aware that neither the Parliament nor the Commission has any say in how the Treaty is ratified. If you want a referendum in the UK then you have to take it up with the UK government. Shouting down speakers in the European Parliament is not only rude but pointless. Also, you staged your ‘protest’ during the proclamation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights which guarantees European citizens freedom of speech among” .
I think my response (currently unpublished) certainly answers the points raised by the Commissioner:-
“Thank you Commissioner for responding to my earlier post. I would remind you that I have been elected to represent my 4.2 million constituents, not to be a well-behaved member of an EU institution. I am using every opportunity to press for the rights of my constituents to have a say in the major constitutional changes taking place, which affect how they are governed (and whether they can influence the decisions that affect them). It is disingenuous to argue that “neither the parliament nor the Commission has any say in how the Treaty is ratified”. The truth is that the three major EU institutions have plotted and schemed together to prevent national referenda taking place as far as possible, and to drive through this treaty in defiance of public opinion. Then you have the presumption to talk about “A Europe of values based on democracy”. This is cynicism and hypocrisy of a high order.”
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
11 Comments so far
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If you were a proud citizen of the European Union, you would have welcomed the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the expanding Schengen area of free travel and the expansion of the euro zone to encompass 15 member states as of 1 January 2008.
Comment by Ralf Grahn December 25, 2007 @ 6:42 pmWhy would Mr Helmer want to be a proud citizen of the EU. As he points out - he is elected by people from the UK and is not elected to represent them, not to represent the EU. Pro Europe does not mean pro EU!
Comment by Paul Wilson December 25, 2007 @ 7:25 pmExactly. Roger, you put it so much better than I. I endorse every word .
Comment by Ughtred Smiths December 29, 2007 @ 7:52 pmA Happy,Healthy & Prosperous New Year
The main difficulty with making a stand for the right to decide how our country should be run whilst working for and on the euro gravy train is that your huffing and puffing lacks credability. I accept the point it is better to fight from within, or be close to your friends and even closer to your enemies. However, the benifits the eroucrats recieve that you shout about are often the very ones you are happy to pocket as well.
Comment by William Fruin January 2, 2008 @ 12:24 pmNo, no, no it will not do. The word is mighter than the sword only holds good if people read and listen. The illeagle EU (No audit signed off for 12 years, you work with them!!) and our own parliment will ignore the will of the people, simply because they can.
The time for a different form of protest is well past. What do you accually do other than wave a piece of paper about! When things are wrong (your opinion is still legal - just) there are three options to take: Put up and shut up: Change it: or quit. Which one do subscribe to? Man the barracks and the majority will be with you if the fight is fair. Keep shouting and you sound like a serial complainer, a loser.
I don’t find William’s comments very helpful. I have devoted the last ten years of my career to fighting the EU juggernaut, and many friends and coleagues would agree that I have not entirely wasted my time. If nothing else, I have helped raise public concern about the issue.
There is nothing inconsistent in opposing the EU while still being an MEP. Would William like a European parlianment in which all the members were passionate euro-luvvies? And the remarks about the benefits of membership are unworthy. For what it is worth, even after eight years of inflationary pay rises I still earn significantly less as an MEP than I earned in the Directorship I gave up in 1998.
Comment by Roger Helmer January 3, 2008 @ 12:17 pmRoger, your response does you no favours. Would I follow your blog if I beleived in the EU? Also as a retired businessman I feel your self justification on less income is disingenuous. One example; pension benifits? Also, you have unarguabley done a lot of ‘huffing and puffing’ but “raising public opinion”. Sadly I do not beleive you have made ‘the public’ more aware. The resistance to EU encroachment is self evident to most people, hence opinion poll results indicate a massive NO vote should the government do what it promised.
Comment by William Fruin January 3, 2008 @ 1:43 pmThe point I make is that a different form of protest is required. Your in the field, bring on the game, change the rules and many of us will man the barackades alongside you. But DO IT rather than talk, talk. Have a healthy and positive New Year.
William, You keep asking me to “DO IT”. Do what, exactly? As I said earlier, I devote nearly every waking hour to opposing EU integration. I (and a lot of other people) think I do so rather effectively. But if you can think of a better way, let me know and I’ll look at it seriously.
As for the remuneration of MEPs: yes, I do get rather generous pension terms. But I also got generous pension terms from former employers (who in those days had final-salary schemes). And before you mention expenses — pre-1999 as an international business executive, I did well in that department too. Anyone who thinks I’m in it for the money doesn’t know me very well.
Comment by Roger Helmer January 5, 2008 @ 5:07 pmAs one of Roger’s constituents in the East Midlands I have to say I feel very well served by him as my MEP.
I think Roger is will known for being very vocal and often critical of all that is wrong with the EU and to come up with comments about his salary and pension is really a little silly.
There is a saying in football - play the ball not the man.
Comment by Jonathan Sheppard January 5, 2008 @ 9:30 pmWilliam, I don’t doubt that you are genuinely anti-EU, but please demonstrate it by criticising the EU itself, rather than attacking Roger - one of it’s most forceful opponents. I’ve seen enough of Roger in action to know that he works phenomenally hard to oppose EU fraud, waste and lack of democracy at every turn and with every means at his disposal.
Comment by Simon Richards January 10, 2008 @ 11:25 amRoger, please could you detail which seven member-state governments were elected on a promise of a referendum for the Treaty of Lisbon? I need to know as part of some research I’m doing. Thank you in advance.
Comment by Andrew January 10, 2008 @ 5:48 pmI visited the EU parliament in Strasbourg last week and attended two plenary sessions. They are nothing like the debating chambers of the UK parliaments. MEPs read from a piece of paper and have a specified time limit which is run down on a very large screen. Laws seem to be determined by myopic unelected NGOs who have vested interests. With others I attempted to support a protest to Gordon Brown that his government should have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty: we were moved from the site line of the cameras by ushers and administrators with harsh words and gestures. Roger, please keep up your good work in an effort to give power to the people and not unelected bureaucrats.
Comment by John Weston February 27, 2008 @ 12:07 pm