SPEAKING from his own extensive experience, the last USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev famously proclaimed that “the EU was the old Soviet Union dressed in Western clothes”.
The then Foreign Secretary David Miliband signed the Lisbon treaty in 2009
Unlike Russia and the majority of former Soviet Union’s constituent states, Western European nations are way too attached to democracy and liberal values to allow dubious revolutions or dictatorship takeovers. For that reason communists never managed to stage a successful change of power westwards of the former Soviet Union and only took Central Europe by way of the Second World War-ending Yalta agreements.
Similarly, all the Western European dictators with their imperialist tendencies got contained and never lasted long; even the most prolific ones like Hitler. And that might just be what Gorbachev had in mind – Western Europe is simply too advanced and evolved to accept a local version of Stalin.
That is exactly why the EU, which was designed with evolution into a super-state in mind, had to be packaged appropriately to deceive the European consumer… Or as Gorbachev put it: “dressed in Western clothes”.
The erosion of democracy and sovereignty has therefore been gradual and incremental, hardly visible to the masses. Nothing has been done by force, whilst false pretences of consultations and acting in the public’s “best interests” have been maintained during power-grabs at times of crisis such as recessions, acts of terrorism or mass migrations.
Nevertheless, with each passing day we are all becoming a little less British and that little bit more “European”. It is widely accepted and enshrined in international legislation that any state possesses a defined territory, permanent population, own government and foreign policy.
The concept of an “ever closer union among the peoples of Europe” dates back to the 1957 Treaty of Rome which also ensures freedom of movement, hence effectively bringing down the European borders between the member states whilst maintaining the external EU frontier i.e. defining the Union’s territory.
Next, since the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 all member states’ nationals have automatically become EU citizens, which took care of defining the Union’s population. That same treaty further stipulated that the European Commission “shall exercise coordinating, executive and management functions”, effectively providing the EU with a government.
The Lisbon Treaty of 2009 is still relatively fresh in our memories. It completes the EU’s moulding into a country by ensuring the Union has a “Common Foreign and Security Policy” with a “High Representative” acting in the capacity of a Foreign Minister.
Following the Lisbon Treaty the EU at present negotiates agreements globally and maintains a worldwide network of embassies. Decisions previously requiring unanimity of the Council of Ministers can now be taken by a qualified majority, which resembles the way countries operate and is contrary to what one would expect of a union.
Clearly, the EU already bears all the characteristics of a country and therefore is a super-state. And so the EU flag and anthem are neither purely symbolic nor are they a joke. As is the common currency, from which the UK has miraculously secured an opt-out.
What is however more sinister is that the Lisbon Treaty is open to further amendments, because the powers to change the EU’s competencies have been ceded by the member states to the Brussels Eurocrats. That prerogative is guaranteed by Article 48 of Lisbon Treaty, to which the constituent countries have signed up.
Therefore, the EU already has the legal personality of a state, its own citizens, increased judicial, security and foreign policy, and of course a guarantee to “self-amend” the legislation, which by now has a format of a constitution. That is exactly why certain countries such as Ireland and Czech Republic opposed signing this treaty whilst many others attempted to secure various opt-outs (all failed except for the UK who won justice and home affairs opt-outs).
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Post Lisbon Treaty the EU has a President, in fact five of them, and is further bound together as a military alliance. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, there now is a “Common Security and Defence Policy” and it is within the European Council’s power to wage war as the EU.
Lastly, just because the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which covers EU member states’ leave procedure, is there at the moment does not guarantee the exit clause will remain as an option forever. Remember, the EU constitution can now be “self-amended” without consultation with member states!
It no longer is an exaggeration to say that, as Western Europe, we might just be a step away from becoming a prison of nations akin to the USSR.
Przemek de Skuba Skwirczynski is part of the Poles for Britain campaign
