International

President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy’s plans to give the European Commission major new powers to control member states' budgets and punish countries that break financial budget rules without the need for treaty changes are undemocratic, says SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong. `Van Rompuy is trying to make any initiative for a referendum impossible. Not only that but he’s taking national parliaments out of the game, as according to his report ratification won’t be necessary.´

De Jong pointed to successive proposals emerging from the European Commission and EU heads of government over the last year which he describes as extremely intrusive and undemocratic. “The next step can surely not be taken without any involvement of the Dutch people. A mandate from the voters is the least you should be able to expect.” He argues that Van Rompuy’s sole aim is to placate the financial markets. In relation to the permanent emergency fund, even the national parliaments suffer a loss of power with this plan.

Van Rompuy uses the proposals to deal in a misleading fashion with the question of the automatic nature of any sanctions. As De Jong says, “setting up the so-called economic six-pack meant that the sanction mechanisms were already agreed. By not going into the proposals now, it makes it look as if Van Rompuy is opposed to this, but nothing could be further from the truth. Brussels will soon be the boss when it comes to our budget.” The proposals also smooth the way for the ECB to set the money printing presses going. As things stand bond purchases by the ECB would mean central backs would create bad, risky bonds. As De Jong says, “if the ECB jumps in, such purchases would have to be balanced by safe purchases. Furthermore the ECB could still bring interest rates down to 0%. This, together with buying up safe binds would also stimulate the economies of northern Europe.”