Barnier’s bunkum and anti-UK rants are sunk by Sweden’s Krona glory

25 years of the EU ignoring its treaties - Sweden, the Euro, and sinking EU arguments

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

Barnier’s claims of “EU rule of law” and “obeying treaties” do not stand up

Yesterday we published our analysis of the state of play for the EU, as it reviewed the member states who are supposed to have adopted the Euro currency - but haven’t. Those readers who missed this excellent Brexit piece can find it here.

Today we provide clear and damning evidence that the EU’s obsessions with its treaties is highly selective – if indeed more evidence were required. Our report below shows that the EU’s attacks on the UK for supposedly not abiding by treaty commitments are not fair, nor reasonable.

Sweden, the Euro, and 25 years of the EU ignoring treaties

Sweden still has its own currency the Krona, or ‘Crown’.

Our report yesterday showed the simple fact is that there isn’t the remotest chance of Sweden or another EU Member State joining the euro before the next “Euro Convergence Report” comes out in June 2022. Despite this there is – and has been for many years – a legal obligation in the EU’s Treaty for seven EU countries to adopt the euro as their currency.

“The report covers the seven non-euro area Member States that are legally committed to adopting the euro: Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.”

- EU Commission, Wed 10 June 2020

Sweden’s ‘crowning glory’ – the Krona

(Yes, we know that some readers would have Abba right up there as Sweden's crowning glory, but...)

Many would say that (privately) most governments of candidate countries would be perfectly happy for their Treaty obligations to continue to be effectively ignored by all sides for many more years.

For example we are quite sure the Swedes are happy. In 2003 the Swedish people were asked in a referendum if they wished to ditch their beloved Krona and join the euro. On a massive turnout the result was 56% against, with only 42% of the people voting for the euro.

Interestingly, this referendum had to be non-binding, because the terms of Sweden’s entry into the EU – enshrined in EU treaty - required it to join the euro.

The Swedes clearly didn’t care, and told their government this.

What do the Swedish people think about joining the EU’s flagship Euro project now?

In the beautiful Swedish city of Gothenberg there is a respected Institute which forms part of the University there. Founded in 1986, Gothenberg University’s SOM Institute has been researching and publishing data on Swedish attitudes to key issues of all kinds for the last 35 years. We have found their research to be very interesting.

When we wanted to understand more about the Swedes’ attitudes to the euro, we turned to the SOM Institute’s latest research.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

25 years of EU forcing Sweden to ditch its currency for Euro, and Swedes still say “Nej”

  • In the 2003 referendum, support for adopting the euro was at 42.0% for, and 55.9% against
  • By last year, 2019, support for adopting the euro had plummeted to 16% for, with 62% against

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org - click to enlarge

As one of our Swedish sources told us:

“Sweden pretends it’s trying to adopt the Euro,
and the EU Commission and ECJ pretends to believe them.”

Maybe Monsieur Barnier should stop preaching to the UK?

The next time Michel Barnier preaches to David Frost that the UK must abide by the ‘Political Declaration’, Mr Frost might want to remind Monsieur Barnier that Sweden has failed to obey its formal and legal Treaty obligations since it joined the EU 25 years ago and that this doesn't seem to have been a problem.

The EU Commission even admits on its current website that "Sweden does not have a target date to adopt the euro."

Finally, in its report last week, in the section on Sweden the EU noted:

“Pursuant to… blah, blah… the Swedish Parliament approves the Central Bank's profit and loss account and its balance sheet… blah, blah. This practice impinges on the financial independence of the Riksbank and is incompatible with Article 130 of the TFEU [EU Treaty].

“The Parliament must not be involved in the relevant decision-making process.”

We have not yet heard what the Swedish people think about the EU’s insistence last week that only unelected bankers may decide on important financial matters, and that the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) has no role to play and no say.

However, given the state of Sweden’s media these days, it is unlikely that the Swedish people will ever find out.

Observations

The EU’s Chief Negotiator with the UK, Michel Barnier, has been becoming increasingly agitated. Put simply, his period of glory days when he enjoyed easy pickings with Remainer May and her group of Remainer civil servants has now been over for many months.

There’s a new kid in town – several of them in fact, including one with a disastrous, blond haircut, another with no hair issues per se but with a truly appalling, teenager dress sense, and yet another who has taken to wearing some slightly-disturbing Joe 90 spectacles.

On Friday the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, issued the definitive answer to the EU regarding the possibility of extending the Transition Period. None of this should remotely be news to the EU, but then they have been used to repeated and continuous backtracking in the past by Theresa May and her appeasement troops.

Happy Sundays

Tomorrow the UK’s elected Prime Minister will hold a video-conference with :-

  • Charles Michel, President of the EU Council, appointed and not elected by any popular mandate
  • Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, appointed and not elected by any popular mandate
  • David Sassoli, President of the EU Parliament, whom no-one had heard of until he was appointed

We suggest the PM goes into that video-conference tomorrow positively brimming with energy, confidence, flair - and yes, a huge dash of British Bulldog spirit.

Dear reader, if you like what we research and write, please do help us out with a donation if you can. Quick and safe ways of doing this are below. Unlike some Brexit organisations we have no big donors – only decent and ordinary people like you. Please don’t leave it to others as it means we get almost nothing and will not be able to see this fight through to the end. Thank you so much.

[ Sources: EU Commission Euro Convergence Report 2020 | National SOM survey 1995–2019, University of Gothenberg | Twitter account of Rt Hon Michael Gove MP | ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 14 June 2020

Click here to go to our news headlines

And please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.

Share this article on

Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments

Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

We think facts matter. Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

Any credit card user

Quick One-off

Donate

From £5 - £1,000

Monthly

Subscribe

From £3 per month

Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first

Quick One-off

Monthly