International

Yesterday, the SP Party Council, which is made up of the chair of every branch and which is the party’s supreme body between national conferences, discussed the memorandum in which is outlined our standpoint on Europe. It was good to see how much unanimity exists among the branches. As it currently functions, we are not at all happy about the European Union. The whole thing must change. The SP wants to see a treaty amendment which is subject to referendum, so that everyone can have a say. We want fewer Eurocrats who think only in terms of power for ‘Brussels’, and of course we want an end to neoliberal policies. But above all we want national democracy restored. We don’t want the Dutch government’s policy plans and the budget which accompanies them menaced by a Commission opinion which hangs above like Damocles’ sword. Power must be taken off big corporations and given back to the people. With that as our guiding motto we will get to work on a solid election manifesto.

The SP has never turned away from Europe and is still not doing so. We want effective cooperation with other countries and to tackle cross-border problems together. We have, however, had quite enough of European Commissioners who adopt an attitude as if they were government ministers, only with ever increasing power. We’ve also had quite enough of back-room politics where corporate lobbyists dictate what must be given over to ‘the market’. And we’ve had enough of the undemocratic fashion in which over the last few years, time after time powers have been transferred to Brussels, without the people having any say in the matter.

The leap forward, as sought for example by the European Parliament’s centre-right President, Guy Verfofstadt of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), is dangerous. It attributes more importance to the opinion of a small minority of member state citizens, who want to see such a superstate, than to what is the overwhelming majority in most EU countries, people who are anxious that there should be a pause in the proceedings, and would rather there were a dismantling of the existing ‘Brussels’ . Verhofstadt underestimates the reality that the majority really don’t want to let him trample over them, which would be the case if his plans for still more expansion of the power of ‘Brussels’ were to become reality. The rise of extremist parties in more and more member states is the writing on the wall. People want the trap into which we have fallen prised apart.

This is precisely what we decided in yesterday’s Party Council. ’Brussels’ must change. We want the European Commission in its present form abolished. Fine for it to oversee adherence to agreements, but proposals for legislation and other measures can be written by the member states themselves, possibly with a helping hand from the European Parliament. By muzzling the European Commission we would be looking to put an end to Brussels’ mania for rules. We can get back to basics, to cooperation where such is necessary. Europe must go back to the drawing board and that’s what the SP will stand up for, in both national and European Parliaments. So it’s really important that we have a strong representation in both. The European Parliament elections aren’t until 22nd May 2014, but I can predict now that every vote will count. People who want to see change in Brussels should know then that their vote is important. Staying at home means voting for Verhofstadt. A vote for the SP means a vote for cooperation and a fundamental reconstruction of the Brussels house.