The European Union's Power Grab - Episode 2319

Do you remember back in the old days when the European Union, or the EC as it was known then, was simply a small group of similar countries dedicated to free trade and better co-operation in diplomatic matters?  Back when even Margaret Thatcher could call it a useful tool for the free market?

Remember those days fondly, because those days are well and truly over.  For a long time now the European Union has been a socialist-federalist nightmare - dedicated to useless laws, interfering with national sovereignty, higher and higher spending, protectionism and everything else on the left-wing agenda.  There have been a number of pro-EU articles that argue gleefully that the EU is a natural replacement for the USSR on the world stage   Therefore Americans and Brits should be concerned that in yesterday's Daily Telegraph it has been reported that the new European Ambassador to Washington -Joao Vale de Almeida - has said that he speaks for Britain on foreign and security policy in America.

In a comment that has come to symbolise the American view of the EU, Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, is once said to asked: “When I want to talk to Europe, who do I call?” In a response to that question, Mr Vale de Almeida declared: “In this area code, you call me.” The ambassador insisted that he did not wish to “impose myself” on member states’ ambassadors, who will continue to oversee “bilateral matters.” But he declared: “Where we have a common position, I am the one leading the show.”

Nile Gardiner, as always, has an excellent article about how this latest power grab by the euro-socialists threatens not just British national sovereignty, but also the relationship between Britain and America - as it is an attempt to sideline Britain on the international stage, and to handcuff her from co-operating closer with America.

Brits, of course, should be worried about this power grab.  It is surprisingly blatant for the EU, which has in the past taken the "frog in boiling water" approach to castrating Britain.  Its usual policy is to do things in the tiniest of steps, slowly turning up the heat so that eventually Brits are boiling to death in European socialism without realising it.  However, with the EU behemoth tottering in a number of areas - specifically the Euro, the bureaucrats are pushing their agenda even harder at the moment.  It almost goes without saying that Brits should push back against this attempt to replace Britain's national parliament with an unrepresentative bureaucracy that has never acted in the interests of Great Britain.

However, the different thing with this new power grab is that Americans should be concerned too.  The Special Relationship has been important for America, and Britain is a greatly needed ally in both its local affairs, as well as international affairs - such as the War on Terror.  The European Union on the other hand is made up of countries and people who are not big fans of the stars and stripes (primarily due to their left-wing outlook), and who would definitely lobby for a 'cooler' attitude towards America.

A European wide foreign policy would be a lot less pro-American and a lot less willing to deal with threats to security.  Instead it would be a hard-left foreign policy that would seek to "engage" with, and "understand" those who pose threats to the West.  It would be a policy that would be immensely critical of America's relationship with Israel, while hiding under the covers when it came to condemning Iran's quest for nuclear weapons.  It would be a limp-wristed foreign policy formed in trendy European Universities by Marxists and "anti-imperialist" radicals.

The EU is a hard-left, anti American and anti-British organisation, and has been for a long time.  Brits must fight against it, and with these new developments, so must America.  An "EU foreign policy" would be a grave  development.