International

On 13th and 14th December the heads of state and government will meet once again at the European Council in a context in which everything and everyone, including the EU institutions, is in a complete mess. Fortunately the Dutch national Parliament will this week be meeting to discuss this summit, because in the midst of all the confusion and quarrelling, it could turn out that far from Commission president Jose Barroso, Council chair Herman Van Rompuy or European Parliament president Martin Schulz having to take a step back, it will be the national parliaments which will be required to do. Their budget rights are under threat.

One of the proposals is that the Commission should be able to intervene if the national budget is not in its view in good order. The SP has long warned against this, but for a budget fetishist such as Prime Minister Mark Rutte or a tame deputy PM like Labour Party leader Diederik Samsom, this could be just the gift they would like to slip into their back pockets. A principal reason for this is that Rutte has been nominated to succeed Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker as chair of the euro group. Very nice for him, but perilous for the national Parliament and every Dutch person along with it. That’s why I’m calling on you to keep a close eye on the European Council. It’s getting serious!

Proposals continue to fall over each other, with Van Rompuy bringing one lot out this week, Barroso a little earlier on behalf of the Commission, and Schulz sticking his oar in to bolster the European Parliament’s power. That’s what it’s about for all three of them – power, power and power again. This means also that others will lose power, and all three have the national parliaments in their sights, as well as the people in Europe who elect them. Of course they’ll all say they’re doing it in order to bring about a strong Europe, one from which we will all benefit. What it certainly means, however, is that the governments and parliaments of the member states will have ever less influence. In this spirit Van Rompuy wants governments to sign contracts: in exchange for supervisory powers over national policy on wages, pensions, the housing market and so on, the member states will receive money from the European funds. And Barroso wants the European Commission to be able to intervene more actively, if the national budget is too large or demonstrates the wrong priorities. Schulz dreams of a powerful European Parliament controlled by European political parties, which should also in his view have the right to nominate Barroso’s successor. And they’re all in favour of handing supervision of banks to the European Central Banks. In time managing the banking system would also become a European affair, which would be splendid for the bank lobby which already has more influence in Brussels than nationally, but a precarious adventure to embark upon with taxpayers’ money.

Far from being against Europe, the SP wants to see active cooperation, but with the participation of the public rather than in a surreptitious fashion. The Eurocrats under the leadership of the aforementioned triumvirate would prefer to regulate their affairs behind closed doors and have in reality a strong aversion to national elections. After all you never know whether or not a Eurocritical wind will be blowing at the time, and that’s annoying. Still ghastlier, in their eyes, are referenda. These give the electorate the opportunity to decide on their little plans and a real society-wide debate on Europe takes place, which is not in the interests of the overpaid Eurocrats who would rather govern from their ivory towers.

The whole of Europe should really be coming to Brussels on 13th and 14th December, when the Council holds its summit. How wonderful it would be if hundreds of thousands of citizens would come along to make it clear that they don’t want a federal Europe or any infringement of the powers of national parliaments. Unfortunately there will be no such demonstration. At most there will be a few articles in the better news media and of course the obligatory photos of Merkel, stepping once more out of her car while Rutte smiles at her and nods. If we really want to prevent Europe becoming a superstate, then it’s already five to midnight. The SP will grasp any and every opportunity to keep people informed and to support social protest against the Eurocrats. Hopefully, everyone will wake up to this threat in good time.