THE TRUTH ABOUT EUROPE

EU LAW

WHAT IS IT?

AND WHAT HAPPENED TO UK LAW?

"There is no more an alarming sign of a society taking leave of its senses than when its officials, with full support of the law, can do something that defies all humanity and commonsense - and no one takes any notice!" ('The Mad Officials', Booker & North, ISBN 0 09 473 200 0)

  1. EU law is certainly not made by elected MEPs in the European Parliament. It is made through Directives (which need legislation by national Governments) and Regulations (which become law immediately as they stand) that come from the European Commission and the Council of Ministers. There are also Council Decisions, Recommendations, Opinions and Resolutions. Similar catagories are produced by the Commission. Commission regulations are produced by committees of officials and need not require political approval at all - Rule by pure Bureaucratic Decree! Commission regulations now account for 88% of all EU law!

  2. In 1973 there were 343 Regulations, 143 Directives and 194 'Other' EU laws. By 1996 these figures were 3070 Regulations, 2964 Directives and 8037 'Others'. They bypass UK Parliamentary control using Statutory Instruments and Ministerial Orders. UK Civil Servants, "translating" EU law, always make things far worse.

  3. EU law is law through International Treaty (mainly The Treaty of Rome, Single European Act, The Maastricht Treaty and the Amsterdam Treaty). A European Court of Justice (ECJ) decides disputes. Because of the way the Treaties were written the ECJ always decides in a manner that furthers "ever closer European integration and harmonisation". That means the ECJ can and does develop law beyond the strict wording of the original treaties. It has developed law to such an extent that it is no longer distinguishable from ordinary UK law; it overrides UK law; it is law beyond any democratic political control (see TEC leaflet 8).

  4. EU law evolves from endless layers of EU bureaucracy. It connects and locks ever closer all the bureaucratic functions of all the national Governments, using millions of officials. Bureaucracy on an unimaginable scale!

  5. The nature of European Law is the greatest concern. Detailed to the tiniest minutiae; ruthlessly enforced, regardless of damage to individuals, small businesses, customs or activities. A system totally alien to UK legal traditions. The size, scale and chaotic nature of EU legislation overwhelms any hope of political control. (Ex-PM James Callaghan recalled how Foreign Ministers of 9 EU states spent several hours discussing the fixed position of rear-view mirrors on agricultural tractors!!). Brussels is a law factory. The Directory of Community Legislation In Force and Other Acts of the Community Institutions (£90) gives an idea of the sheer scale of the problem.

  6. The 'sacred cows' of hygiene, safety, conservation, protection of the environment, consumers and minorities are the excuses for EU laws. They close firms, cause unemployment, create huge costs, allow corruption and, worst of all, simply do the exact opposite of what is claimed. Respected businessmen become criminals; in a recent meeting of 11 leading egg producers, 5 had criminal records through technical breaches of EU laws.

  7. Parliament does not examine EU laws; Ministers do not even read them before signing them. Judges use EU law as superior to UK law. Even if MPs did scrutinise EU laws (and perhaps even understand them) then their views would still not make a jot of difference; MPs are no more than a rubber stamp for EU laws; an illusion, a farce, a puppet's charade of accountability to maintain the fiction of democracy.


"These are peoples who have lost the power of astonishment at their own actions. When they give birth to a fantastic fashion or a foolish law, they do not start or stare at the monster they have brought forth. They are grown used to their own unreason;

CHAOS IS THEIR COSMOS........."

G.K. Chesterton (1914)

SILENT HARMONY

"Europe can speak with one voice only when it has nothing to say." Jean-Pierre Chevenement, French Minister of Interior.

CHOIR PRACTICE

The Guildford Philharmonic Choir was given an hour long lecture, in German, on the position in Europe of the EU Parliament because money for the concert came from EU funds. A case of the piper being paid to listen to someone elses tune?!!


This leaflet (1 of a series of 12) is a rare chance for people to learn something of -

THE TRUTH ABOUT EUROPE

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© TEC 1998