LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Summer 2009

by John Redwood

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Sir,
Pierre Moscovici points to the growing gap between the wishes of the people of the European Union and the actions of their governments. The Lisbon treaty was billed as the means to reconnect the EU to the people. But, as widely expected, it turned out to be just another menu of increased powers for the Brussels institutions and even more rules and regulations for the rest of us. It was an exercise by the political elite for the political elite.

So, unlike Mr. Moscovici, I am not surprised by all the antics over the Lisbon treaty. Voters have repeatedly refused to endorse constitutional change for the Union. Yet the EU’s architects – who claim to be democrats – refuse to admit their errors even when the people say No. They continue to drive “their” Union in a direction that voters reject.

I also disagree with Mr. Moscovici’s view that Lisbon has created a new instability in the Union. So long as the architects of the EU can keep member governments on board, they can continue to trundle the great EU locomotive towards ever greater bureaucracy and integration. This is their favoured course because it blurs the lines of accountability and undermines the more brutal aspects of democratic accountability in ways that they find comforting.

I think the EU project will continue because it has so much political will behind it. It will only stop or go into reverse when governments themselves no longer find it convenient - or if enough people get so angry that they find natural leaders who can challenge this mighty European edifice. I suspect the EU’s architects will be clever enough to compromise with their critics and offer enough of them well paid and comfortable jobs so that they can carry on regardless. In which case, they should not expect the people to like them or their institutions. As far as the rest of us are concerned, the EU is like a party to which we’re not invited. We never get offered a drink but we still have to foot the bill. We obey the rules, pay the money and curse the way “they” ignore our votes and our values.