EU REFERENDUM – INDEPENDENT FACTS
EU Political Structure and Aims
First Published 15th June 2016
EU Fact, Political Structure
Foundation
The EU was conceived in the early 1950s as a united states of open democracies and it is still portrayed as such. The reality is that it is a monolithic union administered from Brussels, running along a Franco-German axis that has been created.
The main architects among others were Jean Monnet, and the Russian-born, Alexander Kojève (Russian-born, French philosopher), Jacques Delors and Jorge Manuel Barroso (Maoist revolutionary).
STRUCTURE
There are 3 main institutions involved in EU legislation
[Official website of the European Union]
1. The European Commission
The European Commission (EC), represents the interests of the Union as a whole and whose members are appointed by national governments.
Year established: 1958. Location: Brussels (Belgium)
The EC Proposes new laws
The Commission is the sole EU institution tabling laws for adoption by the Parliament and the Council.
Manages EU policies & allocates EU funding
Sets EU spending priorities, together with the Council and Parliament.
Draws up annual budgets for approval by the Parliament and Council.
Supervises how the money is spent, under scrutiny by the Court of Auditors.
Enforces EU law
Together with the European Court of Justice (ECJ), ensures that EU law is properly applied in all the member countries.
The EC’s Aims
The EC’s aims are to extend its power to control Nation States, by using the ECJ that extends its power outside the powers conferred by the Treaty, by a rolling process of the ECJ’s re-interpretation of the European Treaties, coupled with the doctrines of direct effect and primacy (“An international treaty is to be interpreted not only on the basis of its wording, but in the light of its objectives”).
The ECJ has further extended the reach and scope of the EU law and of its own powers. Its most powerful new weapon is now the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which has effectively castrated the “opt out” the UK thought it was getting from the Charter
The Commission has also taken overt powers to breakup National organisations by arranging Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deals that include annual reviews of state monopolies.
These TTIPs provide for the breakup and privatisation of state monopolies like the NHS, if they are considered to distort the market by the Commission.
If the Nation state refuses, the American multinationals can secretly sue EU governments for non-compliance and the Nation state has no right of reply (see NHS and Social Care).
Represents the EU internationally
Speaks on behalf of all EU countries in international bodies, in particular in areas of trade policy and humanitarian aid.
Negotiates international agreements for the EU.
2. The European Council
The European Council sets the EU’s overall political direction
- It has no powers to pass laws.
- Adopts laws tabled by the Commission
- Led by its President
- Comprising national heads of state or government and the President of the EC, it meets for a few days at a time at least twice every 6 months.
3. The European Parliament
The European Parliament, which represents the EU’s citizens and is directly elected by them every 5 years and has 3 main roles
1. Legislative
- Has no powers to table laws
- Only passes EU laws, that are tabled by the European Commission
- (Government Pamphlet claims that the UK has a “Special Status in the EU”, but the UK is being outvoted more and more since the Lisbon Treaty, when the concept of votes was abandoned in favour of a “double majority” depending not only on the number of states, but also on the population represented).
- Deciding on international agreements that have been negotiated by the EC
- Deciding on enlargements
- Reviewing the Commission’s work program
- Committees examine proposals for legislation. N.B. Only the EC is responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation
2. Supervisory
Democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions
- Electing the Commission President and approving the Commission as a body.
- Possibility of voting a motion of censure, obliging the Commission to resign (However, £175 billion has gone missing, without a single person has been asked to resign).
- Granting discharge, i.e. approving the way EU budgets have been spent
- Examining citizens’ petitions and setting up inquiries
- Discussing monetary policy with the European Central Bank
- Questioning Commission and Council
- Election observations
3. Budgetary
Establishing the EU budget, together with the EC
Approving the EU’s long-term budget, the “Multiannual Financial Framework”
Conclusion
The European Commission is the only EU institution that can table laws, which the European Council then approves the laws that have been tabled. National governments then pass the EU laws into their own countries. Should a Nation State refuse to implement an EU law. then the European Commission enforces compliance through the EU Court of Justice.
The UK has lost 75% of all non-compliance cases in EU Court of Justice, since it extended its powers, with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
[Britain-loses-most-cases-taken-to-European-Court-EU-referendum-Vote-Leave-Gove ]
Furthermore, UK Government Departments have been fined over £650 million in the last 10 years for administration errors with the UK rebate that is returned as grants that have rules attached [Report by the Commons Public Account Committee].
This effectively makes the EU a collective noun for ‘puppet’ governments – ‘supine Nation States’, because they fail to block the EU laws being tabled by the European Commission and passed by EU Parliament, or Is It Me!
