The EU: Where 'Rules-Based' Means 'Rules-Broken'

And where 'Peace' means 'Military'

© EU Commission

A final example for 2018 of the real EU

Brexit Facts4eu.org Summary

This story involves

• €10.5 billion in an 'off-budget' EU fund
• A former Communist EU Commissioner with a penchant for self-promotion
• And where the EU breaks its own rules with impunity

A salutary tale for Remainers, on the final day of 2018

Rules ain't what they used to be

A fundamental credo of the EU is that it is a 'rules-based organisation'. It is not. Throughout the Brexit negotiations, the argument has been advanced that the EU cannot break its rules, for example on negotiating a trade agreement with the UK before it has left. Putting aside the sheer idiocy of any such rule, the EU itself has no compunction in circumventing any of its other 'rules', at any time, for any reason. Brexit Facts4EU.Org has published evidence of the EU's cavalier approach to its supposed rules on many occasions. Here is another example.

The €10.5 billion military slush fund

Named - as only the EU can - the "European Peace Facility" (EPF), this €10.5 billion war chest is officially described as "off-budget", yet all member states will be obliged to contribute to it according to the usual GDP formula. The EPF is part of the EU Commission's new budget proposals for the next 7-year financial period which starts at the end of 2019. Whilst other parts of the Commission's proposals have been scaled back after deliberations at the EU Council, this 'Peace Facility' has not.

What's the money for?

According to the EU's "European External Action Service", the fund:

"will enable the financing of operational actions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) that have military or defence implications and thus allow more flexibility and effectiveness of our operations abroad." This is a classic case of EU mission creep.

The EU Commission says that it will enable it to :-
"Carry out broader actions: Currently the EU has a limited capacity to engage in military or defence actions, such as capacity building, provision of training, equipment or infrastructure. The EPF will assist in building the capacities of partner countries' armed forces to preserve peace, prevent conflict and address security challenges."

It then even goes on to say that some of the money will also be used to fund military 'equipment' of foreign defence forces. Older readers will remember how for many years proxy wars were fought in places such as Vietnam, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Funding for arms was usually where these campaigns started too.

Why this doesn't appear in the EU budget

Here is where it gets really interesting. The EU is currently limited in what it can do under its own Treaties. If the EU were truly a 'rules-based' organisation, that would be that. Getting around the rules has never been a problem for the EU Commission, however. In this case the answer was simple. Set up an "off-budget" fund, put it in the hands of a power-hungry Commission Vice-President, and bingo, problem solved. The new fund "will only cover expenditure that cannot be financed under the Union's budget because of its operational military or defence implications, as set out in the EU Treaty (Art. 41.2 TEU)."

In other words: 'We're not allowed to do this under the Treaty so we'll do it outside the Treaty.'

Who holds the purse strings?

The most publicity-hungry Commissioner in Brussels after Jean-Claude Juncker is a woman by the name of Federica Mogherini. This former Communist Italian politician rejoices in the title of "High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission".

In practice she's the EU's Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary, all rolled into one. This amount of power wielded by one person would not be out of place in a banana republic. Not only that but she was selected, not elected. Jean-Claude Juncker (also unelected by any populace) chose her.

You didn't vote her in, and you can't vote her out.

The EU's current foreign missions

© EU Commission

Ms Mogherini runs the "European External Action Service" (EEAS) and any casual glance at that part of the EU's website would leave readers in no doubt about that. Photos of her are hardly in short supply on there.

Observations

On this last day of 2018, the Brexit Facts4EU.Org team has brought you a final article based on factual research of the EU.

This is the EU, red in tooth and claw. Undemocratic, power-seeking, usurping the traditional roles of national governments, breaking its own rules, and using what are in effect 'slush funds' to cover some of its activities.

Our Brexit Index contains 1,000 articles which demonstrate beyond any doubt what the EU is. It's not the cuddly teddy bear in the imaginations of uninformed MPs and deluded Europhile pundits.

The EU is NOT what these idiots want the EU to be.

The EU is what it is. And what it is, ain't pretty.

We're getting ready to rock into 2019

We would like to thank all those readers who have helped us during the year. Your messages of support and encouragement kept us going during some very dark days, and your donations large and small made a difference.

You don't see our faces on the TV, nor in the papers. We're not doing this for us. We're doing it for YOU and for this great country of ours.

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