You are in:
- Contents » EU Constitution
Europe's Dodgy Diplomats
The European Union's foreign service is growing - despite the fact that its activities are yet to be made legal by the constitution.
According to British Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan, Eurocrats are in the midst of a massive drive to create a diplomatic corps, complete with "missions to third countries and the United Nations, Euro-ambassadors, trade attachés, a diplomatic training college..."
Hannan notes that of course, the EU constitution allows for the creation of the foreign service. However, the constitution does not yet have legal force, and will not until all countries have ratified it - expected late 2006, barring any referenda troubles.
Even if voters reject the constitution, the ball is already rolling. The European External Action Service (EEAS) is being launched with the declaration "The fact of signing the constitution in Rome has imposed an obligation on the member states, in accordance with the general law of nations, to refrain from any action that might impede entry into force of the constitution."
This federalist trailblazing is an old Eurofanatic trick. Institutions are set up before the public - and sometimes even national governments - are consulted. As Hannan puts it, the EU allows the new institution to develop, "retrospectively legalising the power-grab in a treaty." When Eurosceptics complain, the official response is to argue that the institution has been in place for x number of years, and it hasn't had any complaints before.
Even a power-grab as transparent as the creation of the EEAS is defended with typical Euro-sophistry. Hannan complained that no EU treaty made provisions for the creation of a foreign service. But, ah, the Eurocrat response went: No treaty expressedly forbid such a service, either.
Hannan adds that the EU foreign service is not the only institution being enacted ahead of its legal time: The EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights already has legal force, despite the fact that only four nations have ratified it.
And where does this end? Hannan was in Lima recently. The EU has a diplomatic service there with a staff of 50, more than any of the 25 national embassies. When he asked the EU staffers what was left for national foreign services to do, the Eurocrats "grinned conspiratorially and muttered something about promoting tourism."
Reducing foreign services to glorified tourist offices fits in with the Eurofanatic strategy of demoting national governments to pressure-group status within the EU. Any government serious about its sovereignty should withdraw support from this dodgy diplomatic corps at once and advise its allies to ignore the service forthwith. The European Union should procede as quickly or as slowly as its voters demand - not in order to fulfill the crazed vision of Eurofanatics with nothing but contempt for the people.
