Klaus vetoes Czech approval of Lisbon Treaty
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The Czech President Vaclav Klaus said he would not ratify the Lisbon Treaty after it was approved by the senate yesterday, raising a new obstacle to plans to reform the EU.
Mr Klaus explained that he would not sign the treaty because of its rejection by Irish voters last year and an expected court challenge in the Czech Republic.
"The Lisbon Treaty is dead for this moment," said President Klaus. "It is dead because it was rejected in a referendum in one member state. Therefore, a decision on ratification of this treaty is not on the agenda at this point."
Ireland plans to hold a new vote later this year on the EU's charter for reform. Yesterday the Czech senate voted 54-20 to ratify the treaty which is meant to simplify decision-making in a union that has grown from 15 to 27 members over the past five years. Mr Klaus and lawmakers among the ruling right-wing Civic Democrats claim that the treaty takes away sovereignty and is a step towards a European superstate.
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Comments
The EU needs better systems of accountability, to be sure. It's democratic credentials are in need of improvement. But that does not mean it is useless and should be abandoned. Besides, we haven't exactly got much in the way of democracy here in dear old Blighty, have we? Most of us get to put two ticks in two boxes every five years (one national, one local) - and thanks to our first past the post voting system most of us may as well not bother. My American and German friends find this jaw-droppingly amusing.
That is exactly why this reform treaty is needed (and as far as I'm concerned a reason to not let people decide on complicated international treaties if they don't know at all what it's about apart from yellow press headlines).
The treaty is meant to clear out some rubbish and make political and administrative structures in Europe more visible and understandable. As a clear thinking, sober minded enlightened European that is a step I'd expect politicians to take.
Why is the tone coming from this island about Europe always so negative and emotional? It's a bit ridiculous.
And as a German I can only agree with your American and German friends nullius123. A Country with a first past the post system and unelected aristocrats and bishops in one chamber of their parliament is not one I look up to in regards to democracy.
The Brits are often so proud that they enjoyed democracy for hundreds of years without a revolution or dictatorship in between. But I come more and more to think that these very "continental" and north american experiences might have been quite good for us. Think of a war or revolution as a bushfire. First it brings destruction, but then new seeds start to grow bringing out fresh life and a new generation.
(a non political but practical example is that when Napoleon swept through Europe he brought a lot of destruction but after he was defeated Germans and other Europeans thought "he was a bastard but hey, the metric system he introduced really makes sense so let's drop the '5 foot = 13 toes = 17.3 inches system. It was so logical that it advanced how we go on about science and made measuring on great scales easy for everyone.)
I think in Britain you were given democracy as a clever move by the upper classes. And while it worked ever since they still hold a lot of power over you and you even have a less democratic system than most european countries.
Perhaps when people have experienced darker sides they have a different understanding about democracy, good working political structures and the beauty of being able to work with each other (EU).
Perhaps through a lack of such life experiences (occupying lands of people without fire arms is not quite it) Britain is just a bit dusty and maybe not up to european standards.
Britain is welcome to become a more progressive and helpful partner in Europe or indeed to leave the EU.
EU unaccountable policans know that if we leave gone is our 50 billion pound, gone is the access to plunder our fishing stocks around our cost, gone is our substantial influence with America and many other nations around the world, gone is the best trained best equip army in Europe, gone is the our seat at the security council.
Europe politicians knows it looses far more than Britain generally gets from it and so will say and do anything to keeps things the way they are. In someways they know that Britain hold it altogether, us leaving would leave so much mess behind, so many arguments to do with money that it would be paralising for it as an organisation. So would France and Germany leaving and that why they will say and do anything to keep us three on board. Whole did I mention that gravy tray in Brussels would soon dry up if we left.
this is the great American fallacy
He understands that the only justification for carbon production penalization is political, based on a weak hypothesis that has seen successive decades of failure by biased research to produce any empirical, observational evidence to support dangerous warming by human emissions, yet much to disprove it, not least the 10-20 year trend of no global warming and in fact in recent years a cooling that saw almost all of last century's heat gains lost in total disproof of all the doom-saying propaganda.
Another EU disaster yet you read the statements on eu web pages and they all still have their heads buried up to the ankle in the myth. Why? For ETS as more money from our pockets in addition to unjustified "green" penalties that they can waste on another idiot disaster. Let's call it the monumental hot air balloon in the manner of their other greats, wine lake, butter beef mountain range etc.
41% of Americans have seen through the con according to a recent census. That will be past 50% soon.
Where is the logic in giving money and unfair trade advantage to countries we borrow from? It is called eulogic. Or idiocy. Or the green agenda. (http://green-agenda.com/globalrevoluti
Dennis mentions a better political system (dictatorship). That is an oxymoron for you. We can easily travel to London to throw rotten tomatoes at a government from our own nationals that we (usually) have in power by public vote. It is not so easy to go to Brussels to do the same with a government that is by a huge majority non Brit and it is unelected. It has power over us to determine our future whether we as a local majority want it or not. It lacks in many areas such as speaking the truth and influential members are in organisations that are in conflict with accepted morals.
It is corrupt in many ways, is it 14 years since an audit signed off the eu accounts? Self-serving in too many ways to mention and hugely expensive. A neat analogy is having hugely expensive windmills that don't live up to the promises when we already have economic solutions that work. White elephant also comes to mind.
With the Lisbon protocol, the referendums obliged under the constitution was skirted and when referendums were held against the dictatorship's wishes, the majority voted "get stuffed". Under their own rules, the treaty must be abandoned yet this bunch of phonies continue to scheme and manipulate/lie/propagandize because of their supreme arrogance and blind conceit.
Studies find that the mind set prevalent throughout Europe is against the L. treaty. In what way does the UN-democratic eu "parliament" heed the wishes of the people?
Britain's withdrawal from the political skulduggery will probably lead to its collapse. No more gold showers and private pools in 5 star luxury with movie star pay packets.
Without the corrupting incentives, governments will be less inclined to listen to eu BS and more inclined to listen to their own people. And logic.
In short, it is going to make for a very scary time in Europe, with member countries becoming only administrative subunits of the whole, and with a thoroughly corrupt commission and council calling the shots free from all checks and balances.
We're also going to get suggestions like "redistribution", so that the countries who submit most fully to the corrupt EUcrats get large amounts of money, industries and jobs from the ones who try to maintain some independence. We're going to get smaller countries commanded to send troops to resolve conflicts for the bigger countries.
You get the idea. Go Klaus!!!
Read this book, it explains nearly everything.