Comment at end of page
23rd June, 2007
Our man in Europe has done it again but you’d think he’d sold us down the river to read the right wing press. And the Conservatives say it is merely a re-packaged constitution, and are calling for a referendum.
Between 1973 and 2000, there have been 8 referendums. However, 7 of these were for local issues and only one was for a national question. Two have been on Northern Ireland, 4 have been on devolution, one has been on the issue of the Lord Mayor of London.
The national one was on whether Britain should join what was then the EEC (European Economic Community). This national one was held in 1975. Since then there has not been a national referendum.
Plus ca change there, then. The agenda of the anti press is to get us OUT of the EU, so any opportunity they can take to muddy the waters, they take. And even the ‘left-wing’ press are at it!
Read The Guardian’s report which says that Brown ‘ordered’ Blair to stand up to France.
And The Telegraph talks about the end of the truce between Blair & Brown after Blair’s ‘cave-in’! REALLY!?
Harking back to my thoughts after Blair’s feral beast speech on press presentational bias and on how papers present their stance, I found The Guardian’s words and phrases interesting (highlighted):
“Gordon Brown dramatically intervened in a crucial European summit yesterday to overrule the prime minister …”
“Mr Brown … intervened with Tony Blair after the prime minister assented to the French demand. He phoned Mr Blair three times in Brussels as he digested the potential impact of the Sarkozy coup. A chastened prime minister was forced to go back to the negotiating table to demand a new “protocol” to guarantee that the EU’s powers to regulate cartels and anti-trust issues were not impaired.
From that we are meant to garner these ‘facts’.
- Tony Blair is weak and easily rolled over
- Gordon Brown is tough – tougher than Blair
- The French are too clever by far – watch them, and the rest of the EU
It just might be that this “phone call” routine was a failsafe position agreed beforehand between the two Blood Brothers (B & B), and even amongst others in attendance.
We KNOW how highly regarded Tony Blair is in the EU. We KNOW how he has invariably secured a strong deal for Britain. We KNOW that he also has an understanding of the bigger EU picture from the perspective of EU partners and the international front.
What do we know about Brown in Europe? Only that he scuppered Blair’s wish to go into the euro, (which may or may not have been a good thing, since proving the unknown is too complex and depends on too many unknowable variables.)
Anyway, enough of fighting yesterday’s battles. Mr Blair knew in Brussels that he had to make a deal with which Brown could live and which he could sell to parliament and to the country without the need for a referendum. Referendums are NEVER about the issue in hand.
That deal is what we’ve got – or rather Tony Blair has got for us – right up to ALL his ‘red lines’. Thank you, Mr Blair.
BLAIR SAYS – EUROPE AN OPPORTUNITY NOT A THREAT
Read Tony Blair’s final plea to Britons on Europe
DETAILS OF THE EU SUMMIT AGREEMENT
Much of the agreement is based on the content of the European constitution, rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands. There are a few cosmetic changes and a couple of new opt-outs for Britain.
The main principles of the constitution are maintained. These are:
* A permanent EU president, chosen for two and a half years. The post can be extended once to five years. The EU president – technically president of the European Council, the body which represents national governments – can hold no other job during his tenure. Currently, the presidency rotates every six months between member states, with Germany giving way to Portugal at the end of this month. This role is different to the European Commission president, who is head of the Brussels bureaucracy.
* An EU foreign minister in all but name, to be called the “high representative.” The minister will have a diplomatic corps at his disposal.
* A new voting system for member states. Blocking decisions among governments will be more difficult after 2014 due to a complicated “double majority” voting system. For new EU legislation to be approved, it must win two separate majorities on the European Council: votes of countries representing 55 per cent of member states representing at least 65 per cent of the EU’s population.
* A legally binding charter of fundamental rights, ranging from dignity and freedom to the right to strike and the right to housing.
* New powers for national parliaments, which can block EU legislation if a majority of them agrees.
No mention of the word “constitution” is to be made in the final text. Nor will there be any mention of the trappings of statehood, such as an anthem and a flag (though these symbols will continue to exist). Britain was given opt-outs on police and judicial legislation.
In another concession, the charter of rights will not apply to Britain.
France managed to delete a reference to “undistorted” competition, originally one of the aims of the EU. The legal effect of this change is still not clear.
The outline now goes forward to an intergovernmental conference, which will decide on the fine detail, probably before the end of the year.
The “reform” treaty will then have to be ratified by every member state, though governments are this time expected to avoid calling referendums. (Ref: The Telegraph)
22nd June, 2007[Pic below: Tony Blair arriving at his last EU Summit on Thursday]
Update midnight Friday/SaturdayThey’re still up and it’s not finished yet, but it looks like Tony Blair has managed to get all he wanted from the summit. There has been a typical EU fudge on the matter of competition law, which others wanted to remove from the preamble of the treaty. Yes, Gordon Brown has been the ghost at the feast, his treasury team out there keeping an eye on Blair! So the three phone calls to one PM from another have resulted in both of them looking involved and successful.Update 10:30pm Friday
Despite Gordon’s frantic phone calls to Tony, Mr Blair is said to have “given in” to France. Sky News says the present PM has been forced to defend a compromise with the French in negotiations over a new EU constitution. They say that Nicolas Sarkozy appears to have won agreement for a reference to economic competition to be struck from the text. Mr Blair, in his phone chats with Mr Brown, insisted that nothing will be lost through this change, though business (and the chancellor) may not agree.
Well, we’ll see. It ain’t over til it’s over.
Update 7:00pm Friday
“HELLO … IS THAT YOU TONY?”
Tony Blair’s mobile has been busy this afternoon in Brussels. Three times! And all from the same person. This is getting serious.
“Gordon here. AGAIN. Listen, Tony – don’t you dare opt us out of the EU competition freedoms, or I’ll pummel yer heed! AGAIN!”
Well, maybe not.
But there has been some heavy politicking going on in several languages today and in the last few weeks. Whether or not any strategy had been agreed beforehand between the two ‘PMs’, I don’t know; and whether or not any agreements or tactics had been rehearsed in French/German/English recently I can only guess. Even if they have, this is not to criticise. All member nations discuss, debate, agree on voting and quid pro quos. That’s politics. If the phone calls are the only way to ensure that a settlement beneficial to British and EU business interests is secured, or at least NOT derailed wilfully by the UK, then we have done our best, have we not?
Update 5:10pm Friday
Tony Blair has said that we are making progress on the four key elements including making sure that the Charter can’t alter British law. Competition and internal market, in particular the “free and undistorted competition” part was causing concern to the French. But Mr Blair says the issues are now resolved because a protocol has been agreed so that the legal basis remains as it already is.
So now to see what can be done about Polish concerns, before we can call this summit successful as regards the treaty.
Four out of Five?
So if the opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights is not winnable by Mr Blair, does the whole summit collapse in disarray? We’ll have to wait a few more hours to find out. So far, so good!
REFERENDUM?
I expect if the PM comes back with everything he hoped for, the Tories will still be screaming for a referendum anyway.
We should remember that we have never, ever ratified an international treaty by referendum. But of course since Tony Blair will come out of the whole thing with most if not all of what he wanted, the referendum might still be the main story.
Blair’s ‘RED LINES’ and Background
This summit is an attempt to agree a treaty to replace the ill-fated constitution. Against the backdrop of a possible referendum if the ‘treaty’ turns out to be a ‘constitution’ in disguise, Mr Blair is talking tough to his EU colleagues. He says he will not cede power from the UK in these areas, his red lines:
FOREIGN POLICY,CRIMINAL LAW, LABOUR LAWS, DOMESTIC LAW
At the same time he says that no legal force will be given to an EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
So that sounds like five to me. Reminiscent of Gordon Brown’s 5 golden economic rules?
But Mr Blair and Mr Brown discussed the summit BEFORE the PM left for this his last appearance on the international stage before he departs No 10 next Wednesday. So they would seem to be on the same page on all of this.
It seems the PM used the summit’s opening dinner to drive home his message that he is ready to walk away from a deal if it breaches his four “red lines”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the 27 EU states to agree a mandate this week for a six-month inter-governmental conference to thrash out the final wording of the treaty.
Mr Blair faces tough negotiations with EU states keen to resurrect key parts of the European Constitution rejected in French and Dutch referendums two years ago.
Britain is being seen as the main obstacle to a new treaty which current EU president Germany wants to see agreed in principle by the end of this week and signed before the end of the year.
But on Thursday evening Ms Merkel acknowledged a deal may not be reached: “We can’t say yet whether an agreement is possible. The discussion over dinner showed political will, but we will have to see if that translates into a result.
“It is clear all the delegations have a long way to go. There are several open questions, some of them quite complicated.”
Speaking after the dinner, Mr Blair’s official spokesman said: “Our four points, our red lines, are not a menu of options. We need to see them met, each of them. Tomorrow is the day when we will find out whether that is possible.
“The Prime Minister said he wants to see a deal, but a deal is only possible if our four red lines are respected. This is a real negotiation. This is not a ritual negotiation. This is for real and it is going to be tough.”
Aides said that one of the most difficult areas will be the UK’s determination not to be legally bound by the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Officials are understood to be working on a potential opt-out on the Charter to keep Britain on board for the rest of the treaty, which is regarded as vital to ensure the EU functions effectively with 27 members.
Poland is also part of the awkward squad, and threatens to block the planned switch to a qualified-majority system of voting, dubbed ‘double majority’, arguing that it gives too much weight to large countries such as Germany.
Some thoughts on progress so far:
Tony Blair 
June 10, 2009 at 6:52 pm |
[…] June 2007, a few days before he left office, at the EU Summit Blair drew his “red lines” under the Lisbon Treaty (supposedly under Brown’s […]
October 9, 2010 at 5:08 pm |
i passed all over the summit discussion, basically am much interested with TONY BLAIR`S presentation of which he presented to the EU summit truely a free market is neede without interfering members state constitution.LAWRENCE KAYANGE from TANZANIA