Britannia Radio

15 April 2009 New Action Stations - 16-18 Added mid April 2009 (see end for reminder How to Use action Stations)   16  You Are Ignoring the Rule of Law   Commissioner : Jose Manuel Barroso President European Commission rue de la Roi 200 BE-1049 Brussels, Belgium jose-manuel.barroso@ec.europa.eu   Why do you continue to regard the rule of law with such open contempt? After the Constitutional Treaty was thrown out by the French and Dutch you continued with the activities of Mr Javier Solana in the role of EU foreign minister, regardless of his lack of a mandate. Indeed, Hans Winkler, then the Austrian president of the European Council, told the European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee in June 2006 that the EU would proceed with 36 projects which had previously depended on the proposed constitution for their legality. These include setting up a Human Rights Agency, a Space Agency, a diplomatic service, and a Corps of Border Guards. In addition, the Charter of Fundamental Rights was to be incorporated into legal decisions in future. That particular decision was a particular outrage, since the charter itself had no legal authority – and still has none to this day. Worse, it was once described by Keith Vaz MP, when UK minister for Europe, as being no more important than a copy of The Beano (a children's comic-book). Despite all this, Mr Winkler claimed at that same meeting of the Constitutional Affairs Committee that "the substance of the proposed constitution is not in question. Its contents and principles stand." Now that the replacement Lisbon Treaty is in the same mess, we learn that the development of the diplomatic corps is going ahead, again without legal authority. The funds for this development work, which come originally from taxpayers in Britain and elsewhere, are from a budget allocated to Mr Solana and approved by the Budget Committee of the European Parliament.     You have no legal basis for any of these agencies, projects or decisions. They and their funding are ultra vires and illegal.   You have in the past claimed that the EU is "A Union of Values", based on democracy and the rule of law. But your total disregard of the NO votes in referenda in France, Holland and now Ireland demonstrates the EU’s true nature - contempt for democracy, disdain for the verdict of the people, and a mockery of the rule of law.   With the European Parliamentary elections coming up in June, you need to understand the negative impact of what passes in Brussels for government.   You may be in for a nasty shock, and you will have only yourselves to blame.   17  You Have No Authority to Create a Surveillance State   Commissioner :  Viviane Reding Commissioner Information Society and Media European Commission rue de la Roi 200 BE-1049 Brussels, Belgium   viviane.reding@ec.europa.eu   Why is the European Commission applying double standards over governments collecting and using personal information about ordinary people?   Threatening the UK government with legal action over British Telecom’s collecting information about the use of the internet by private individuals might be a small step in the right direction. But it would be much better to have a British government with the wisdom to make such a decision for itself.   Unfortunately that is only the tip of a rather nasty iceberg.    Elsewhere, the European Commission is encouraging the development of a society in which the state, and the EU for that matter, will know more about private individuals than ever before.   Your complaint in the BT case is that internet users were not asked to give their permission for their personal data to be collected, analysed and used for other purposes by third parties.   May I draw your attention to Article 12 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human rights, which says "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence… Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference…"   So what right has the EU and the governments of nation states to collect and use any personal information without regard for, or reference to, the individuals concerned? Who ever asked us, the people, for permission to collect and manipulate personal information about us? Who ever gave permission for it to be passed on to third parties without the individuals concerned even being told, let alone asked?   Just because the technology now exists for such activities does not carry the authority to implement them. Nor should we forget that the two worst previous surveillance societies, in Germany and the Soviet Union, both eventually created situations that ended in self-destruction.   The EU does not even have a genuinely accountable form of government, which the people can remove every five years. But all governments ultimately have to stand accountable before the forum of public opinion.   There can be no defence in the argument that data collection is for the protection of the majority. Such a generalisation does not stand up to close scrutiny. And it ignores the much bigger threat to the great majority that their privacy has been invaded without authority, and without specific good reason.      You have not asked me, and I have not given authority for you to collect, store, or pass on personal information about me. Nor have I given you my permission to encourage the British government to do so.   Furthermore, by this letter I explicitly withhold my permission and any implied permission. You are far exceeding your authority and any mandate you may claim – whatever its alleged source. 18  The Cost of Compliance Outweighs the Benefits   Commissioner : Siim Kallas vice-president, Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud European Commission rue de la Roi 200 BE-1049 Brussels, Belgium   Siim.kallas@ec.europa.eu   Early in your mandate as a member of the European Commission you argued that the EU did not carry out cost/benefit analyses of proposed directives and regulations because costs varied so much between one country and another. If this was true then, why has the European Commission now changed its mind and started to claim that its impact assessments demonstrate some sort of value for money? What is the difference between a genuine financial cost/benefit analysis and what the EU chooses to call an ‘impact assessment’? There must be a significant difference since you choose not to use the words ‘cost/benefit analysis’.   Does the Commission think that the cost to the British economy of implementing new EU regulations and directives over the last 10 years has been value for money?   The think-tank Open Europe has estimated the cost at £ 107 billion sterling, far more than the UK's gross contribution to the EU budget over the same period.   How do these figures compare with the cost of compliance in, say, France, which chooses to be far more selective about applying EU regulations and directives?   The French don’t even bother to pay the fines you impose for their disregard of EU regulations and directives. What are you planning to do about that? How To Use Action Stations   Join an army of letter-writers and complain direct to the people responsible Each topic above should be regarded as notes for reference.  They are NOT standard letters.  Please use the material to write your own. LETTERS ARE BEST - E-mails get deleted by minions in the office.  A letter has to be answered.  And it makes them think.  It reminds them the Brits are not putting up with EU nonsense any more. So here’s what you do - • Pick an issue, or an area of interest where you have special knowledge   • Write to the European Commissioners responsible, and tell them what you think   • Demand explanations, answers. Tell them about the damage they have done   • When you get an answer, try to keep the argument going.   • Meanwhile, find a new topic, start another line of attack with a different Commissioner   • Report all this to your local papers   • Get friends and relations to join in.   • Create a letter-writing group.   • Start today. Click here to visit the Action stations page   To respond to, or comment on this Email, please email ashley.mote@btconnect.com