Thanks Keith, but I despair......
What hope is there for enforcement of new rules and regulation within Europe, when the following is identified in a BBC article titled “ Did Germany sow the seeds of the eurozone debt crisis?”
“ (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16761087): a small section of the article is shown below:
There was, from the beginning, a way for the EU to police the economies of member states by following the rules that had been laid down for the single currency in the Maastricht Treaty.
It was called the Stability and Growth Pact, and it was not Italy or Greece that torpedoed it - it was Germany.
In 2003, France and Germany had both overspent, and their budget deficits had exceeded the 3% of GDP limit to which they were legally bound.
The Commission - then led by the former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi - had the power to fine them.
But the finance ministers of what was then the 15 eurozone member countries gathered in Brussels and voted the Commission down.
Romano Prodi says he was prevented from fining France and Germany for breaking euro rules
They voted to let France and Germany off.
They voted not to enforce the rules they had signed-up to and which were designed to protect the stability of the single currency.
Britain's then-Chancellor, Gordon Brown - still at this stage committing sterling to its love affair with prudence - voted with the French and German position.
The EU is often criticised for the power wielded by the unelected and allegedly unaccountable European Commission.
On this vital and, as it would turn out, pivotal occasion, the Commission ran up against something much more powerful - the combined will of the democratically elected governments.
"Clearly," Romano Prodi told me, "I had not enough power.
"I tried and they [the finance ministers] told me to shut up."
The view was that, ok, if the big boys won't adhere and impose discipline on themselves, they're going to be more relaxed in enforcing the treaty [on us]. ” Quote by Peter Doukas Former deputy finance minister of Greece
Quite an eye-opener, and with respect to Mr Lidington, the informative article referred to above doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in gaining any future enforcement of regulation, or necessary reforms, does it Keith, when self interested groups can ignore/overrule such stability mechanisms and thereby set a precedent for bad practice that has had such devastating effects on all European citizens?
European firewall…. What European Firewall?
Safeguards? What safeguards?
Earning credibility and an outward looking and secure Europe?
Well how do you accomplish that when rules are just ignored or overruled?
Let’s see some “transformational power” and leadership in the form of ensuring citizen's human rights, including rights to fair and timely justice that enforce the rule of law. Surely that’s not too much to ask for a civilised western society is it?
It’s all too easy to espouse rhetoric. What we need as a basic starting point for all European citizens in Spain, for example, is workable and enforceable legal protection from abusive and corrupt practices whether by Politicians, Banks, Mayors, Town Halls, Developers, Lawyers, Judges, whoever.
All of the above are a sad reflection of what has been happening in Spain during this last decade, and all of the above requires effective and bold reform to create a workable, fair and respected system of justice. Only then will credibility be restored.
My concerns relate also to Mr Lidington’s mention of growth with links to the cutting of the number of regulated professions. Given the recent history in Spain we need more regulation in that regard, not less! Growth should never be at the expense of protecting citizens’ rights.
This message was last edited by ads on 08/02/2012.