Here is this week’s newsletter: St Stephens News XXVII No 24
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Newsletter
1 juillet 2016 Vendredi, 13ème Semaine du Temps Ordinaire de la férie The Centenary Anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.
I have always felt sympathy for George III 1738-1820 about the loss of the North American Colonies which all wanted to hold, and the actual holding of the Indian ones which were not so prized. The point of the argument was silly, for at that time legislatures in Europe were, as the UK one is today, representative, and not very democratic. Most people in British possessions including the British isles, had no vote, and were also not represented. It was mean of the American Colonists, very Non Conformist, to object to paying taxes for their own security. George was a good kindly religious man, suffering from a grievous affliction made worse by the loss of the North American Colonies.
The size of the European Institutions is about that of the Government of Scotland, and most of the implementation is done by the Legislatures, Civil Services and Regions of the member States, and all, including the United Kingdom, are rather cavalier in keeping to the rules, which results in serious faults in accounting. What is needed is a European Treasury to handle all such matters, and to supervise the Budgets of the States, and that we can expect will come about when the political will is present.
The Directives and Regulations issued by the Commission are the result of work by the Parliament elected directly by the Citizens, and the Council of Ministers (appointed by the Member States Governments which are democratic).
A Directive is an advice to be implemented according to the style of each State. English is the main language of the European Institutions, BUT it is not the English of North America, and so a Directive may be implemented in a number of ways as each State pleases as it is not a “Direction”. By contrast a Regulation, again agreed by the Parliament and the Council, has to be implemented as it stands.
The final Court of appeal is the European Court of Justice. Generally the European Institutions are on the side of the Citizen, in my experience, and have caused great benefits to the ordinary person in terms of road, drug, food, animal, health, work place safety unknown in the United States of America. Our rivers and seas and air are now of an improving quality. Salmon have returned to the Thames. Rubbish is increasingly re-cycled. They have also caused the free flowing of goods at a much lower cost.
The Commission is composed of the College of Commissioners of 27 members (the UK one Lord Hill, has just resigned), including the President and Vice-Presidents. The Commissioners, one from each EU country and approved by the Elected President and Parliament, are the Commission’s political leadership during a 5-year term. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for specific policy areas by the President.
The matter of the conflict of State Laws and Traditions is always decided in advance in the terms of the Treaty of Accession and that must be followed during the membership of the State. The business of “Common Law” is ridiculous, for that only applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is limited to the Criminal Law, and was used to conflate the different traditions occurring from ancient times. English Ecclesiastical Law (the oldest of all English Law), like Scottish Law and that on the Continent, is based on Justinian. The UK Prime Minister is a nominated (by the Queen on advice) dictator (acting with the Royal Prerogative).
The matter of immigration has become prominent because more migrants are arriving in the UK from the new member States (the UK supported the admission of these States) than expected, and at the same time the UK Government has been cutting back on Social Housing, and Educational Support which always need extra help for areas receiving migrants. The Health Service of England is under stress for lack of funds, and migrants are essential to make it work, although their use of it is less than the local population, because they are healthier. Migration into the United Kingdom is only available to European Citizens and Foreigners with UK Visas. It is best to avoid being behind a US Vehicle at any UK border, as the confusion is always great. Schengen Visas do not operate in the UK.
Refugees in my experience, are anxious to assimilate and gain work. Some of them will be reading these words.
The European Parliament resides in Brussels near the Commission at Berlaymont, and visits the Parliament Building of the Council of Europe in Strasbourge once a year. The European Parliament controls the Commission along with the Council, and can and has dismissed the Commission. The European Parliament does initiate legislation.
Every household in the United Kingdom received a booklet explain the nature of the European Economic Community as being in a process of ever closer union in 1975 prior to that Referendum.
The European Union is different to the United States of (North) America in a number of ways. It is part of the European Project which includes the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, whose HQ is also in Brussels, along with the Council of Europe in Strasbourge. This means that all States must subscribe to the European Convention of Human Rights, which outlaws a number of barbarities permitted in the USA. The Convention applies to “persons” and not citizens, so it includes what in the USA are called Aliens. A United States Service Man or Woman marrying a European Citizen in Europe has full rights by marriage and as a person. However if they move to the USA the European Citizen becomes an Alien with no rights.
The 2016 Budget for the USA is $ 4,00 trillion (4 000 000 000 000 000 000), and that of the EU is €155,004,20 (155 004 200) million. 1 US$ =0.897786955 € today.
In the EU Sovereignty is shared by the States with the institutions of the Union, whilst in the USA, Sovereignty is held by the States.
In the EU the authority for instance, of a matter like weights and measures, is held by the Union, and not by the States, as it is in the USA.
Jean Claude Juncker, President of the Commission, “He underlined the mood of frustration, hitting back at Britain’s politicians for “blaming Brussels day after day, starting in the morning and finishing in the evening,” and, “telling your people that Brussels is under the command of European bureaucrats and technocrats … you should not be surprised when they believe you”. Which is an echo of what my son Ben said.
Juncker also criticised the leave campaigner, for not having a plan: “I thought that if you wanted to leave you had a plan, you had a global picture, they don’t have it.”
Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said the UK should be given more time before Article 50 is triggered, because “England has collapsed politically, monetarily, constitutionally and economically”. Adding to this theme later in the day he said: to anyone thinking it was “a good idea to leave the single market, this is what happens”.
A large number of us European Citizens are exploring ways of retaining that Citizenship, when and if, the United Kingdom leaves.
There is a rise of Right Wing groups in Europe at the moment, and the Anniversary of the Somme reminds us of the likely consequences of any failure of the European Project. Pray for us.
The issue was actually one of sovereignty. Folks who cherished being British voted to leave. Those who were happy with some sort of amorphous European identity, doubtless, voted to remain. As things turned out, the “nays” carried the day. GPH+
15 juillet 2016 Vendredi, 15ème Semaine du Temps Ordinaire S. Bonaventure, évêque et docteur de l’Eglise Mémoire
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a medieval monarchy of the « ancienne regime » where the sovereignty is held by the Queen in Parliament, and is shared with other states, unions and international organizations. The sovereignty is not held by the people, except if they are the Queen, or in the Parliament. However the introduction of European British Citizenship in 1980 and 1990 along with the use of Referenda to discover people’s wishes, has caused many European British Citizens to think that they do hold sovereignty as do other European Citizens especially where States have also held Referenda. This confusion is understandable because the United Kingdom has no written Constitution.
The general consensus is that the UK Government was punished for failing to support the National Health Services, especially in England, and for failing to make adequate provision of housing and educational services for the increased flow of immigration.
I write these words from Little Britain, which is in France, and where we do speak British as they do in parts of the UK and Ireland. It was in the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Wales where most of the Negative Referendum vote appeared and amongst those groups who do not travel, who are elderly and who have nostalgia for things past and who are poorly educated. The Lable “British” may have surfaced in these groups, but it is essentially a misnomer, because they are mainly English or Welsh and are not representative of the whole British Isles, or the Commonwealth, or indeed here!
Immediate Identity is usually local and variable, so that in Plymouth, Student Mohammad Aadil, an Afghan Refugee, naturalized European British Citizen, was asked by his fellow students what he was, and replied to their mystification, in those terms. The actual question was whether he was Devon or Cornish? Here likewise “Je suis un Anglais” but “Grand Breton” is also much enjoyed as is “Europeen comme vous”.
The European Identity which we all bear here, is not amorphous but emblazoned on our Passports across the European Union.
The future is always a closed book, and it remains to be seen how this unfortunate debacle will turn out. I hope along with many others that I shall be able to remain a European Citizen, with or without the British bit, which has now become a matter of shame and much de-valued.