Perhaps if I was back in the States at school, I wouldn't be paying much attention to the whole European Union/Lisbon Treaty situation at hand. I'd probably shrug it off and worry about it when it came time to write an exam in one of my International Relations classes.
But being in London, England, every time I open a paper, whether it be the Times or The Guardian, I am constantly being reminded of the eery presence of a United States of Europe.
So Vaclav Klaus is weary of the Lisbon Treaty and has been holding out on signing it, even though the Czech courts today stated that they would be go along with ratifying it. But has anyone stopped to wonder, why is Klaus a euro-skeptic? Why is Britain for the most part, a Euro-skeptic nation? Why have Denmark and Norway ( we don't even need to mention Switzerland) opted out of certain aspects of the E.U all together?
Something doesn't add up - that nonsense that we are sold about the E.U being a foundation to integrate Europe to stop future wars and create peace does not hold up. A Social Charter filled with hot air promises and undemocratically elected MEPs and Commissioners should warn people, particularly Europeans, that the E.U is not going to be a glorious utopia that is assumed.
Yes, I am a Euro-Skeptic and proud of it. Is it wrong that I value nation-state's sovereignties and worry about what would happen when ONE president rules over a state consisting of 27 vastly different countries with plural cultures?
My main question is - why has there been a sudden rush to ratify this Lisbon Treaty? What exactly is Europe rushing towards? Since the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, nation-states in Europe have had their own leaders. Why now is there a sort of time bomb where we must rush towards a European president and a European foreign policy? It all seems a bit suspicious. Many Europeans, as evidenced in Eurobarometer polls, are also very skeptical of this bizarre supranational entity.
If David Cameron had a referendum in the U.K, he would see that the British people for the most part do not want anything to do with the E.U. Some go so far as to say they should pull out of it all together. I believe that Britain is so far gone and integrated into the whole scheme that is not even possible for that any longer, but they do need to loosen ties. An E.U as a state means the centuries old Parliament and other British institutions will become obsolete.
Instead of looking to London for issues of concern in Yorkshire or Aberdeen, you'll be looking to Brussels for guidance by some bureaucratic minister who might not even have an association with the British Isles.
I'm no Conservative and definitely, for obvious reasons, not a part of any fascist parties or principles, but their Euro-Skeptic arguments hold up to a certain extent. One Polish fascist party leader warned of the E.U turning into a neo-totalitarian state. Can anyone say '1984'? George Orwell got it right almost 60 years ago and he did not even know it.
Before we know it, the monarch and the sterling pound will be extinct and Brits and Europeans alike will be afraid of "double think" and have to pledge allegiance to some sort of fabricated Oceania. Meanwhile, I'll be sitting back in liberated North America shaking my head saying, " I told you so."
V.K.L
