Serious Trouble in the Lunatic Asylum The last few days have produced at least three stories from the lunatic asylum in Brussels , most of which would be pure Alice in Wonderland but for the fact that our money is still being wasted and our best interests seriously threatened. Disagreement Among Top Dogs First, the turf wars between the bureaucrats about who is top dog spilled over into pure farce when President Obama finally refused to go to Madrid to talk with EU leaders. He made the decision on the entirely reasonable grounds that – to him at least – the EU leaders could not agree a pecking order amongst themselves. Was President Obama to meet the prime minister of Spain , whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU? Was it the recently appointed president of the European Council – an anonymous Belgium ? Was it the president of the European Commission, the former Portuguese prime minister, who has just been reappointed? Or was it the recently appointed High Representative for Foreign Affairs – an equally anonymous British baroness with no experience of foreign affairs? As reinforcement of the president’s dilemma most citizens of the EU, even visitors to this site, would be hard put to name all four. Yet these largely anonymous people exercise absolute power without risk of sanction across 27 countries in western Europe. For the record, the Spanish prime minister is Jorge Luis Zapatero, the president of the European Council is Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Commission is Jose Manuel Barroso, and the EU’s Foreign Minister is supposedly Baroness Ashton, but she has already been described as ‘lacklustre and unimpressive’. Having agreed to her appointment knowing inexperience would make her easy to control, the French government machine immediately started undermining her in an unsubtle power-grab by Sarkozy. Why does the phrase bu**ars muddle spring to mind? Whatever you might think of Obama, staying away from Madrid was the right decision. Idiotic Delusions of Grandeur Secondly, the above-mentioned Herman Van Rompuy was accused of acting like a king and displaying delusions of grandeur over his choice of a summit venue. In his first serious attempt to flex his executive muscles, he called a summit to discuss greater economic union amongst the 27 member states. Leaving aside the irrelevance of such a discussion when the euro is in serious danger of collapse, and far more important economic issues are staring world leaders in the face, selecting a palace for such a meeting displayed a lack of public relations nous that beggared belief. Once his folly had been pointed out to him the venue was switched to an office block in the area of Brussels largely occupied by EU bureaucrats. But Mr Rompuy is not easily put off, it seems. He has told his fellow EU leaders that he, and he alone, will propose EU economic targets and policy up to 2020. One senior EU official was later quoted as saying "We are now moving beyond just monetary union to economic union”. Whether the comment was made with enthusiasm or in fear was not reported. Meanwhile, Commission President Barroso claimed that Rompuy’s meeting would move towards European “economic government”. Germany Renews Bombing City of London The ludicrous proposition is that bureaucrats from a majority of EU member states with no experience of international financial markets, and no significant presence in them, should in future decide what London can, and cannot do. The City of London ’s role in world markets is one of Britain ’s greatest economic and commercial assets. On its own, the City of London ’s GDP is greater than that of many developed countries, including Switzerland . Yet the present turmoil in world financial markets is now being exploited by Brussels as a beneficial crisis which – they hope – will allow them finally to take power over the City. The only other major financial market in Europe is in Frankfurt, but that is a tiny fraction of the size of the London market. So it comes as no surprise that it is a German Green MEP, Sven Giegold, who is leading the charge for greater control for Brussels . He has demanded that the veto the UK once had over decisions affecting its financial markets be abolished. No wonder the City of London is concerned. Most voting blocks in the European Parliament have already sided with his proposal which is also likely to be extended to cover banking regulation. The chances of the Commission refusing amendments by the European Parliament to extend its power of regulation are as close to nil as makes no difference. Mats Persson, director of the think-tank Open Europe, has been quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying “These plans will leave the UK Government completely without safeguards against proposals which could hurt the City of London . Crucially, accountability will fall into a black hole between EU regulators and the states. If the crisis taught us anything, it is the importance of holding both regulators and finance ministers to account.” Some 300 years of self-regulation by the City will have been brought to an end by a series of decisions taken in Brussels by people with no direct experience of global financial markets. But only because we Brits allowed it to happen. 
10 February 2010
Which brings us to the third piece of dangerous nonsense to emerge from Brussels recently - the crusade of the EU righteous to seize control of Britain’s financial markets and bring London’s international supremacy in that field under Brussels wing. And we all know what that means.
So we now know that, unless there is a dramatic upset perhaps inspired by an incoming Tory administration, by the middle of this year the EU will finally have gained control of the City of London . To respond to, or comment on this Email, please email ashley.mote@btconnect.com
Click www.ashleymote.co.uk to visit the site now.
Wednesday 10 February 2010
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