Tuesday 27 June 2006

A major democratic deficit within the EU

On 21 February 2012, The Guardian quoted former Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and and Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, thus:

"I am now clear that THERE IS A MAJOR DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT WITHIN THE EU. And it is absolutely certain, in my judgment, that THE MECHANISM THAT WAS ESTABLISHED 30 YEARS AGO TO FILL THIS GAP OF THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT, WHICH WAS A DIRECTLY ELECTED EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, HAS NOT WORKED and, in my judgment, cannot work in that form. And the paradox is that AS THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HAS BEEN GIVEN MORE POWERS IT HAS BECOME LESS, NOT MORE, LEGITIMATE…

A SYSTEM OF POLITICAL ELITES leading people by the nose… the EU should not be involved in issues like the working time directive, health and safety and so on. I am in favour of much that is in those instruments but what I'm not in favour of is having a single, one-size-fits-all instrument which works on the presumption that there will be single, one-size-fits-all enforcement when nothing of the kind takes place…

It is also clear that THE PRIORITIES THE EU POLITICAL ELITES CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON ARE TAKING US AWAY FROM CORE AREAS, SUCH AS TACKLING TERRORISM AND INTERNATIONAL CRIME… Tackling this dichotomy at the heart of the EU will be critical if the union is to not only survive the euro crisis but also avoid an even more serious democratic crisis.”
The Guardian added:

“He was speaking at an Institute for Public Policy Research seminar at which poll findings were released showing ONLY 8% OF THE POPULATION BELIEVE THEIR VOICE COUNTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION.”
UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, commented thus upon Straw’s epic volte face:

“It’s a shame that Mr Straw spent years failing to realise that the parliament is useless.”
'Years,' Nigel?

Decades more like.

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