The sting in this story is towards the end. Barroso and foreign MEPs
are qwuite clear and excplicit. We have been warned!
And all because Brown broke his promise of a Referendum on that
constitution / Treaty
xxxxxxxxxx cs
===================
DAILY EXPRESS 9.1.09
are qwuite clear and excplicit. We have been warned!
And all because Brown broke his promise of a Referendum on that
constitution / Treaty
xxxxxxxxxx cs
===================
DAILY EXPRESS 9.1.09
EU WILL GRAB BRITAIN'S GAS
By Nick Fagge
BRITAIN’S vital North Sea oil and gas supplies are to be taken over
by Europe under emergency plans revealed for the first time in
Brussels yesterday.
EU leaders are demanding control of British energy reserves to
prevent power blackouts that have left millions of eastern Europeans
without heat in Arctic weather due to the Russian gas blockade.
Euro-MPs are calling for the creation of a European gas reserve, made
up of British and Dutch supplies, which member states can tap into in
the event of any future shortage.
The transfer of ownership would be enacted under secret powers
written into the controversial Lisbon Treaty. It gives Europe the
legal power to take over individual states’ supplies to “ensure
security of energy supply in the Union”.
Ultimate control over Britain’s vast natural gas and oil fields – by
far the biggest resource within the EU – will fall to Brussels if the
new treaty, which has already been ratified by Britain, is adopted
throughout Europe.
Last night, however, there were calls for Britain to stand firm
against the seizure of our oil and gas. UKIP leader Nigel Farage
said: “Brussels has already stolen our fish. Now they want our oil
and gas. These are vital resources to Britain and we demand that the
British Government vetoes these proposals. This shows how vital it is
that the UK holds a referendum on our future in the European Union.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “EU Commission president
Jose Manuel Barroso is right to say that the EU needs to help eastern
Europe with its energy security. But giving the EU control over our
national energy reserves is totally the wrong way to go about it.
“This is a regretful example of how the renamed EU constitution would
give the EU too much power over our national affairs and why so
important a treaty should be put to the British people to decide in a
referendum.
“What we really need is a proper free market in energy in the EU. The
EU already has the power it needs to achieve that.”
Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP for London, said: “Conservatives will
continue to resist any moves towards EU common energy resources. The
Common Fisheries Policy has already decimated our fishing industry.
An EU common energy resource policy would do the same to what little
is left of our oil reserves.”
Russian and Ukrainian officials and energy firm executives were
yesterday locked in crisis talks in Brussels in a bid to break the
deadlock over blocked supplies that has hit power deliveries to 10 EU
countries.
Meanwhile, in a closed-door meeting with high-ranking European
politicians, Mr Barroso said the current crisis showed the need for
urgency in adopting a common EU energy policy. [The EU loves a
crisis . It uses each one as a means to tighten its grip over
previously independent countries by pushing for yet another centrally
controlled ‘common policy’ -cs]
He called for a “mutualisation of energy stocks”, the better use of
“EU indigenous energy resources” and said it was vital that member
states show “solidarity” with their struggling partners in eastern
Europe.
Mr Barroso added that he would soon have the legal authority to take
over control of energy reserves under the Lisbon Treaty. [He’s
jumping to conclusions about the Irish there! -cs]
He said the new powers were necessary because requests to national
governments to detail what gas reserves they had available had
produced no response. [Nobody is very keen then! -cs]
MEPs also called yesterday for control over Britain’s dwindling
natural resources. Austrian Hannes Swoboda and Dutchman Jan Marinus
Wiersma said there was an urgent need for a European gas stockpile.
[Get the stockpile from non-EU sources then -cs]
Mr Swoboda said: “Some countries are not happy with the idea but it
is absolutely necessary.”
Mr Wiersma told the Daily Express the idea would involve stockpiling
gas from producer countries such as the UK and the Netherlands to
tide over vulnerable member states in the face of future crises.
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