by rz
Tue Jul 14th, 2015 at 07:11:44 AM EST
Since we are all turning totally against the EU I thought I excerpt this relatively funny piece from the Spectator:
As a long-time Eurosceptic, I should be happy about the Johnny-Come-Latelys now swelling the sceptic ranks. Following Euro-institutions' wicked treatment of Greece, many European liberals have finally realised that Brussels might not be the hotbed of liberalism, internationalism and bunny rabbits they thought it was.
So far so standard.
But similar to the author I have recently also started to reflect on the whole referenda thing on the European constitution:
Where the hell were you guys in 2001, when the Irish people rejected the Nice Treaty and were subjected to a tirade of abuse from EU officials before being made to vote again? Where were you in 2005, when the Dutch and French peoples were libelled by EU officials as racists and xenophobes and `the generally pissed off' for having the temerity to reject the EU Constitution?
Especially the rejection of the European Constitution by French voters seems today quite different then how I perceived it back then. I remember that there were discussion here the the Eurotrib regarding this whole affair, but this was a little before my time.
Another point to consider
The second reason I'm not rolling out the red carpet for these people coming around to a way of thinking they once branded a phobia is because they're doing it wrong. They aren't genuinely opposed to the EU; they're just really angry with Germany.
This is mostly direct at British criticism of recent event in the Eurozone.
This Germany-mauling guff is grating for two reasons. Firstly because it's so goddamn lazy of Brits to fall back on the caricatured view of Germany as a machine-like, monstrous nation always itching to take over Europe. Seriously, guys, the war ended 70 years ago -- stop refighting it. And secondly, this Germany-bashing misses the true, profound problem with the EU. Which is not that one nation wants to run the show. It's that all nations, all political elites, including ours, and including Greece's, have pooled their sovereignty into Brussels in order to allow them to do politics in a more technocratic, far-from-the-madding-crowd fashion.
Indeed.
