If you don’t get a chance to listen to this week’s podcast, there’s something important you should know about the European Union: it’s becoming more dangerous and more transparent at the same time. What do I mean?
EU troops will be able to take over a member state’s border – without the permission of that state – if the European Commission decides the situation is “urgent”. That’s according to a proposal floated by the Commission yesterday. It proposed the creation of a European Border and Coast Guard Agency of up to 1,500 border guards. I call them troops.
The proposal says the new troops would be able to intervene “even if there is no request for assistance from the member state concerned or where that member state considers that there is no need for additional intervention”.
You can’t make this stuff up
The Commission also reserves to itself the right to make recommendations on “corrective measures to address existing gaps” in border security. According to Politico, “If the country fails to take measures, the Commission would be able to adopt and “implementing decision” enabling the agency to act on the ground, even if the country doesn’t ask for help”.
No additional comment is necessary to clarify what is going on here. It’s altogether fitting and proper that the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, began his speech to the plenary session of the European Parliament with the following:
“I have always aid, Mr President, that the European Parliament is the Parliament of the euro, and I say it again today. The euro is a political project, and it that means it requires political supervision and democratic accountability. You are the Parliament of the European Union but you are also the Parliament of the euro.”
Additional blather ensued. But the first point was the most important one for Britons on the fence over whether this country is better off staying in the European Union or getting out now while the getting is good. The EU is a political project. The euro is a political project. When you control the language, the law, and the money of a country, you control the country. That is the EU’s ambition for Britain and all of Europe. It’s time to go.
Super Earth
If you’re really serious about leaving the European Union, consider another solar system while you’re at it. According to Nasa, there’s an “Earth-like” planet just 14 light years away that we could eventually call home. It’s called Wolf 1061c. That might need some rethinking should anyone actually colonise the planet. Perhaps they can call it something like Brighton. Or Croydon.
Whatever they call it, it’s big. It’s four times the mass of the Earth. It exists in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone of the solar system in which it’s found. It’s not so close to its star that it will burn up (like Mercury and Venus). And it’s not so far away that it’s freezing cold (like Neptune and Uranus).
Am I being fanciful? A bit. But I was inspired by yesterday’s podcast with Nick and Sean Keyes. It’s possible that you and I are living in the most exciting period of human history ever: a coming age of abundance, affluence, exploration, innovation and a revolution in the institutions which govern us (and our money). It’s Nick’s big project next year. But it’s humanity’s big project too.
Category: The End of Europe