THE THREE STOOGES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL GET THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE….(FOR BEING OUT OF TOUCH)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/9733594/The-EU-takes-the-prize-for-being-out-of-touch.html
At a ceremony in Oslo town hall later today the European Union will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The EU’s three presidents – Jose Manuel Barroso of the Commission, Herman Van Rompuy of the Council, Martin Schulz of the Parliament – will accept the honour for fostering “peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights” in Europe. The Nobel medal is to be housed in Brussels in the “House of European History”, an £82 million vanity project conceived by the European Parliament, which seems not to have noticed that we are living in an age of austerity.
Previous peace laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have denounced this preposterous award on the grounds that the EU has never been a “champion of peace” – a view that would be endorsed in the Balkans, where tens of thousands died largely as a consequence of the EU’s failure to act with any semblance of unity after the break-up of Yugoslavia two decades ago. It has also not gone unnoticed that the EU’s most grandiose political project, the single currency, has helped generate greater hostility between EU member states than has been seen at any time since the foundation of the Common Market 55 years ago.
But all of this will be lost on the EU’s panjandrums as they pick up their prize: to them, the award will be no more than the European project deserves. Once again, the chasm between the ruling elite in Brussels and the EU’s 500 million citizens will be on display. It is not just in this country that profound questions are being asked about the EU’s future, though nowhere are the rumblings of discontent quite so intense as here. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, repeated his call yesterday for a fundamental renegotiation of the UK’s membership terms to create a much looser relationship focused on the single market. Dr Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, will today call on David Cameron to ensure that a “clear and concise policy” on Europe is in place within a year.
With the Prime Minister planning a major policy statement on the EU within weeks, such promptings from senior Conservatives are to be expected. While a referendum on Europe is now beginning to look inevitable, it is far from clear what the UK will be seeking to achieve in any treaty change negotiations. In his forthcoming speech, Mr Cameron must not only spell out in some detail the nature of the new relationship he envisages with the EU but must also explain what action he intends to take if he is unable to achieve any worthwhile changes. The status quo will not be an acceptable option to put to the voters in any EU referendum.
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