EU 'Cherry Picking' from Rules the Voters Rejected
by Patrick Hennessy

Less than five months ago, voters in France gave the thumbs down to the European Union's proposed new constitution when 55 per cent rejected it in a referendum.

A few days later, voters in the Netherlands dismissed it even more decisively, with 62 per cent saying No to the controversial treaty.

After these results from two of the EU's founder members, the constitution - which set out a blueprint for the future of the union and contained a weighty Charter of Fundamental Rights - was said by virtually all sides to be dead in the water, despite the fact that it had been endorsed by all EU heads of government.

Tony Blair breathed a sigh of relief because the French and the Dutch rejections meant that there was no point in going ahead with his plan to stage a referendum on the constitution in Britain next spring - a vote which looked impossible for him to win and which was seen by some as a possible finishing post for his time in Downing Street.

However, Brussels documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph are compelling proof of the desire of the European Commission to breathe new life into the corpse of the constitution - and in particular the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Document COM (2005) 172 effectively insists that the provisions of the charter must be enshrined in all new EU legislation. It baldly states: "This document sets out a methodology for ensuring that the charter is properly implemented in commission proposals."

New laws proposed by Brussels will be subject to "systematic and rigorous monitoring" to ensure that they comply with the charter, the document reveals.

Eurosceptics have also seized on a footnote to page two of the eight-page document, which establishes the primacy of case law handed down by the European Court of Justice over existing laws in member states.

The footnote accepts that the charter is not legally binding, but adds: "It contains the fundamental principles which have been held to be binding in case law as general principles of community law."

Last night, Chris Heaton-Harris, the Conservative Euro MP, said: "This shows that the commission has no intention of taking any notice of the voters in France and the Netherlands, who decisively rejected their blueprint for a federal super state."

Brussels bureaucrats were simply "cherry picking" the bits of the constitution they wanted to see implemented and forcing them through by the back door, he added.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights faced heavy criticism when it was drawn up because, for example, it could give the Army and the police in Britain the right to strike for the first time.

The right to education could allow Brussels to say how British schools are run. The charter also creates new rights to social security, housing assistance, health care and environmental protection - all with potentially serious consequences for the Government and British businesses.

The charter also permits a right to asylum, potentially handing full control of the UK's asylum system to the European courts.

Last night Liam Fox, the shadow foreign secretary, demanded an urgent explanation from Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, about the document, as Britain currently holds the European Union's rolling six-month presidency.

"I have repeatedly made clear my fear that the EU is determined to ignore the results of the two referenda and instead press ahead with the implementation of many elements of the Constitutional Treaty," he said. "This document confirms that those fears have been fully justified. It is simply not acceptable for EU governments and the commission to behave as though the Constitutional Treaty had come into force."

A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "The constitution has not come into force. We are still in the position we were in before. It is right for the commission to ensure that anything it does not cut across the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The charter remains the most recent political declaration by the governments of EU member countries about the rights of their citizens."
The Sunday Telegraph, 16th October 2005

PHILLIP DAY'S COMMENT: Who isn't surprised about this classic and quite tragic example of the 'democracy' of the EU, which pays lip service to its people while doing what it wants to anyway. I will continue to say it until I am blue in the face, this wretched Union is one of the most dangerous political developments in the world today, run by incompetent Communists who have lulled the populations to sleep with promises of peace and security, and yet, drip by drip, have removed the final stages of personal representation and accountability. Do not be fooled for an instant with all the talk of 'human rights' and charters purporting to 'protect' the people, precisely the same honey Marx and Lenin used to beguile millions with tragic results.

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