In Davos, the EU Commission President proves that Brexiteers were right all along

Revealed: Frau von der Leyen thinks she runs all of Europe as one country

© WEF / EU Commission

Meanwhile the Brexit Bill finally gets through the Lords and is with Her Majesty for Royal Assent

Yesterday in Davos at the World Economic Forum where national leaders, think-tankers, journalists and lobbyists gather for four days each year, the EU’s new Commission President - German Ursula von der Leyen – gave a keynote speech. In it, she laid bare the EU’s pretensions of being a single country and a coming military power.

Meanwhile in London the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill 2019-21 reached its climax in Parliament.

HM the Queen will give her consent today

Since the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill 2019-21 was passed by the Commons after the New Year, the Remainer-dominated House of Lords has debated more than 100 amendments. Yesterday their Lordships sent the Bill back to MPs in the Commons with five key amendments, all of which were rejected by the MPs.

On then being sent back to the Lords, the peers finally gave up the fight and the Bill is now with Her Majesty for Royal Assent. Following certain formalities the EU Parliament will vote on the Agreement on 29 January, where it is expected to pass. It will then become an international treaty between the EU and the UK effective from 11pm GMT on Friday 31 January 2020.

On the same day in Davos, Switzerland

The newly-appointed EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, gave a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday. Below we present some key excerpts and in our analysis below we offer some thoughts which readers will not see elsewhere today.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Excerpts from speech of Frau Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President

World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 22 Jan 2020

“…if you engage with Europe you will find a reliable partner, working for a more sustainable world. But we ask for fairness in return.

“We have a lot to offer. We are the largest single market in the world. We are one of the three largest economies. We are the largest source and destination of foreign direct investment. We have more than 80 free trade agreements, and over 700 international economic agreements. And the next negotiations will start in February with our British friends.”

“We have learnt the importance to invest more in long-term stability and to prevent crises. This is where Europe can make a real difference.

“We are the largest donor for development cooperation – in fact, we invest in this more than the rest of the world combined. But we must also do more when it comes to managing crises as they develop.

“For that, Europe also needs credible military capabilities and we have set up the building blocks of the European Defence Union. There is a European way to foreign and security policy where hard power is an important tool – but is never the only one.

“Hard power always comes with diplomacy and conflict prevention; with the work on reconciliation and reconstruction, which is something Europeans know well, because we have gone through this, here in Europe.”

WHY IS THE ABOVE IMPORTANT? – COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

One of the problems with the insidious nature of the EU and its plans for nearly half a billion people is the gradual acceptance of its promulgation of total nonsense as fact. Sadly, in this endeavour it has benefited from the support of large elements of the UK broadcast media (BBC, Sky, ITN), large elements of the UK press, and most of the media across the EU27 countries.

Once again it seems that we must be a lonely voice, ridiculing the EU’s latest pronouncements.

1. What legitimacy does this woman have to speak for “Europe”?

Frau von der Leyen apparently spoke for “Europe” yesterday. She holds the title of President of the EU Commission – a group of bureaucrats wielding enormous power yet with no popular mandate from the peoples of the 28 EU countries. She was the last-minute compromise candidate thrown at the EU Parliament last year, to replace Jean-Claude Juncker. Hers was the only name on the ballot paper, and yet she scraped through by only nine votes our of 750.

2. A lesson in geo-politics

Frau von der Leyen’s speech yesterday is littered with references to “Europe”. The words “European Union” did not pass her lips even once.

As we have pointed out many times, “Europe” is a continent of over 50 countries. (This varies slightly according to different definitions.) In a week’s time the EU will consist of just 27 countries. It is NOT “Europe”.

The problem is that the EU has slowly adopted this term over the years and the Europhile media has not corrected them. This does not make the term correct. We consider both Norway and Switzerland to be part of “Europe”, for example, and yet neither are members of the EU. Nor will the United Kingdom be, one week tomorrow.

3. The EU lays bare its superstate credentials and ambitions

During the Referendum campaign in 2016 – and in the years since – Brexiteers have been wrongly ridiculed on many levels by Remainers. Let’s just take a couple of instances from Frau von der Leyen’s speech in Davos.

Firstly, Brexiteers were ridiculed for the idea that the UK would become part of one country – the “United States of Europe”. And yet here we have the EU Commission President talking of “We are one of the three largest economies. We are the largest source and destination of foreign direct investment.” If that isn’t talking as if the EU were one country, then we would like to know what is. The EU is not “one economy”, it consists of 28 economies, soon to be 27.

If Remainers still wish to argue the point, Frau von der Leyen also said “We are the largest donor for development cooperation – in fact, we invest in this more than the rest of the world combined.” This is patently and demonstrably untrue. Several times in the last four years we have published the official aid figures, which show that the US is No.1, followed by the UK, followed by Germany. (Technically Germany overtook the UK last year but this is only because it started including the costs of its massive influx of migrants into its “foreign aid” figures.)

This is all another demonstration of how the EU refers to the actions and spending by individual member state governments as somehow being its own.

4. The EU’s now-brazen moves to become a military power

Importantly in the former German Defence Minister’s speech, she raised the topic of the EU’s Defence Union. This new EU Commission President says “Europe also needs credible military capabilities and we have set up the building blocks of the European Defence Union.” She goes on to say: “There is a European way to foreign and security policy where hard power is an important tool.”

Regular readers will recall all our researched articles about the “EU Army”. As when Nigel Farage was ridiculed by Nick Clegg in that infamous TV debate of 2014, so we have been ridiculed over the past four years for all of our evidence-based articles on this.

The simple fact is that the EU is now no longer hiding its military ambitions in any way.

5. Conclusion

Here at Brexit Facts4EU.Org we do not often write generic polemics about the EU. The simple reason is that they are not as popular as our research pieces which involve UK politicians or the abuse of UK money by the EU.

On watching Frau von der Leyen’s speech in Davos yesterday, however, and with just one week to go before the technical Brexit day, we felt it was important to raise once again the creeping (some would say creepy) geo-political intentions of the dysfunctional and undemocratic machine that is the EU.

In the coming years, a newly-independent and powerful United Kingdom will have to face the unpleasant reality emerging on its doorstep. You read this here.

If you would like us to continue to see Brexit through during the coming 11 months while the UK will be an EU colony with no voting rights, please make a donation today. We simply can’t carry on without you, our wonderfully-supportive readership. Quick and secure donation methods are below. And please, we need new readers to donate, to replace those who now think Brexit is over and have stopped donating. Thank you.

[ Sources: World Economic Forum | EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 23 Jan 2020

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