From Maastricht to Brexit - How the UK avoided the EU's growing power grabs - Pt 4

How the EU has seized power by patience and stealth - and the Great UK Escape

Montage Facts4EU.Org 2023

Facts4EU.Org summarises how independent states have been sucked into the EU vortex

A Brexit Facts4EU.Org Series

Part One – The EU’s acquisition of countries and land
Part Two - The EU's growth in people and GDP
Part Three – 1957-1992, UK's entry into the EEC, the scandal of what we now know from officialdom
Part Four - 1993-2023, Great UK Escape - EU's power grabs after Maastricht, UK's triumphant Brexit (This report)

1993-2009 – The Maastricht Treaty and its successors

Maastricht was the birth of the European Union in terms of its official name. The flag and anthem had been agreed and now the new ‘country-in-the-making’ had decided on a name.

The Maastricht Treaty was key. It laid the foundations for a shared European citizenship, for the eventual introduction of a single currency, and for common foreign and security policies. It also presaged the treaties which followed, which introduced more and more powers and controls on the way to its Empire status. These include the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999), the Treaty of Nice (2003), and the Lisbon Treaty (2009).

The new ‘Schengen agreement’ then opened the doors for free movement without passports across the EU. In order to create one superstate it is important that borders be eliminated. Schengen represented the start of this process of borderless, supposedly separate and sovereign countries.

2010-2016 - The UK's subsidies of the EU continue - why wouldn't they? (And they still are)

When the EU enlarged again in 2004 and subsequently, every single new member country has been a net recipient of 'EU funding'. In reality this was of course part-financed by the UK being a significant net contributor to the EU's coffers for every year of its membership bar the first. In the early years of their membership these countries more or less accepted the increasing powers of the EU. Now, some of these countries are facing the prospect of being net contributors to the EU's budget, which is a process likely to accelerate as very poor Balkan countries queue up to join. Ireland is one of the latest countries to find it is now a net contributor, for example.

We are already seeing push-backs against the EU's increasing powers from countries such as Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. When more countries no longer receive subsidies for being members, the conflicts between member countries and the EU machine are only likely to escalate.

2016-23 - Calamity for the EU as the UK votes Leave and eventually exits

On 23 June 2016 the EU's second-largest economy and its No.1 defence and intelligence power, the United Kingdom, voted to leave the European Union. Whilst this went down like ‘un ballon de plomb’ in Brussels, in the UK Brexiteers were dancing in the streets.

'Free at last, free at last.' At that time, few people imagined the ferocious rearguard action by the Establishment which subsequently took place over the next few years.

Photo right: From Twitter. Brexiteers in Sunderland, early morning of 24 Jun 2016

We are proud to say that Brexit Facts4EU.Org did predict it. We were the only Brexit organisation to continue publishing from the day of the result and every day thereafter – for over seven years.

The Leave vote was little short of a disaster for the EU bureaucrats of Brussels and their plans for a European superstate. They completely misjudged the mood in the United Kingdom and instead believed the propaganda and hype emanating from David Cameron, George Osborne, the vast majority of the UK Parliament, almost every national and international institution you can think of, and the majority of the British media.

When you know that the majority of the thousands of EU bureaucrats read the FT and The Guardian for their British news, it is perhaps not too surprising they got it so wrong. And on top of this, put simply, they thought it inconceivable that anyone would vote to leave their precious empire.

But leave we did, on 31 Dec 2020. The only major sadness is that we left Northern Ireland behind – something that urgently needs to be rectified.

The UK has prospered outside the EU. In 2021 and 2022 the UK was the fastest-growing economy in the G7. This year the OECD is predicting that the EU’s largest economy, Germany, will be the slowest-growing. It has already ventured into recession and is currently stagnant.

We're now so close to the full funding for completing 'The Independence Documentary'
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Jacob, Nigel, David Jones, John Redwood, Kate Hoey, Lord Cruddas, Ann Widdecombe, Richard Tice, Ben Habib, and many more. The big launch to the public and the media is set for 02 October.

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2023 - So what powers does the EU have now?

Now we jump to the present day and what Rejoiners would be faced with. As so often, we will let the EU Commission itself tell readers what it can now do.

“The Commission is the EU institution that has the monopoly on legislative initiative and important executive powers in policies such as competition and external trade. It is the principal executive body of the European Union and is formed by a College of members composed of one Commissioner per Member State. The Commission oversees the application of Union law and respect for the Treaties by the Member States; it also chairs the committees responsible for the implementation of EU law. The former comitology system has been replaced by new legal instruments, namely implementing and delegated acts.”
- EU Commission website

In short, the unelected EU Commission now has most of the powers that the founders dreamt of and planned for from the very beginning. For those in any doubt, here is some more from the EU Commission:-

“The Commission has a Secretariat-General consisting of 33 directorates-general, which develop, manage and implement EU policy, law and funding. In addition, there are also 20 special departments (services and agencies), which deal with ad hoc or horizontal issues. …There are also six executive agencies, such as the Research Executive Agency, which perform tasks delegated to them by the Commission but which have their own legal personality. Barring a few exceptions, the Commission acts by a majority of its members (Article 250 TFEU).”
- EU Commission website

It is important to stress that the EU Commission is not the same as the British Civil Service, as so many Remainer-Rejoiners seem to believe. The Commission’s powers go far beyond this, and yet not one of the Commissioners is elected by popular mandate.

Even its current President, Ursula von der Leyen, was a last-minute compromise candidate who was shoe-horned in at the last minute, despite the protests from the EU Parliament. She was the only candidate allowed in this sham 'election' and yet she only managed to get approved by just eight votes.

Given all the above, why would anyone want to rejoin this power-hungry, undemocratic empire?

Rejoining the EU today would be catastrophic for the British people, unless you believe in one EU superstate, with all powers controlled from Brussels. You would lose the pound and have to adopt the failing euro currency, laden with debts which would have been inconceivable only a few years ago. The UK Parliament would go back to being almost impotent in so many areas of our lives - and these areas grow all the time.

Observations

Facts4EU.Org could write a book on the subject of the EU and its power grabs. In this four-part series we have tried to summarise some of the developments in a readable way. Naturally we can't include everything but we hope readers found our summaries interesting. We believe it's important to have a historical perspective on all these things. Today we have brought the story up-to-date, showing the British people just what the EU has become - and is becoming. We do not think this is pretty.

The EU now has supreme power over large parts of everyday life for citizens in the EU, from deciding that your vacuum cleaner can only clean at half the suction you were used to, to deciding what you can eat, to deciding what social and taxation policies your own government can pursue. There is now scarcely any aspect of life which is untouched by the EU’s bureaucratic powers emanating from unelected and unaccountable officials in Brussels.

Is the continual acquisition of increasing powers by Brussels benign?

Unfortunately, after more than seven years of intensely studying the EU on a seven day-a-week basis, we do not believe it is.

On the day after the majority of the British public voted to leave this sclerotic empire, the EU Commission President stated: “This is not an amicable divorce.” Given that he said this within hours of the result having been declared, this was clearly a statement of hostile intent and this is exactly how the EU has behaved ever since – with hostility. We suggest it epitomises the nature of this now-powerful beast.

Facts4EU.Org and you

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[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Parliament | Public Records Office | The Bruges Group ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 23 Aug 2023

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Reader Comments 10

1. NH , Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 10:13:

"The flag and anthem had been agreed"
Ode to Joy doesn't really work as an anthem. It has no words and doesn't really tell you anything about the EU.
I can suggest they adopt "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears for Fears. Much more appropriate !
.
"The only major sadness is that we left Northern Ireland behind – something that urgently needs to be rectified."
The ROI may look attractive at the moment but look below the surface and everything is not so rosy. I have nothing against the Irish people and I wish them well but the fact is they are living in a temporary economic bubble and the Irish Government knows this. Approximately 27.5% of their tax income comes from Capital Gains Tax and over 80% of this is from earnings outside of Ireland. Effectively they are taking tax that should be going to other countries. This equates to over 6000 Euro for every Irish worker.
.
Understandably other countries are angry about this and want to see changes. The EU presently has a plan to implement the digital levy by 2024 and this will change ROI's tax income and effect investment into Ireland.
.
Other factors to consider are that the ROI does not have a free health service equivalent to the NHS. Over two thirds of ROI residents do not qualify for a free Medical Card so they have to pay for many health services. This may be important to an ageing population in Northern Ireland and a country where 8.4% of the population receive Disability Living Allowance.
.

2. LuxuryBalloon , Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 10:30:

1 NH … Liz Truss tried ti reduce our Corporation Tax to the same level as the RoI but she was forced to do a U-turn by the money markets within days.

3. John Jones , Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 10:58:

Guys - if you're going to be Facts4eu - it's important that you also provide facts too.
You were most definitely not the only website to pursue Brexit matters pre & post Brexit.
That accolade has to go to Richard North & his website from c. 2007- 2021 - post 2021, Euref became to provide accurate commentary on Brexit & a whole host of other contemporary news items.
So, credit where it is due to Dr North. Sometimes the pesky facts get in the way.
REPLY FROM THE BREXIT FACTS4EU TEAM
1. Dr North operated a small blog, not an organisation which hits tens of thousands per day, reaching up to 1.1 m for a popular report.
2. He regularly banned people for daring to question him, however politely.
3. We are not banning you.
4. His blog shows nothing since 2021. As far as we can see he hasn't published since then - our organisation has published seven days a week since before the Referendum
Yes, JJ, pesky facts can get in the way...

4. NH , Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 11:23:

1.LB , "Liz Truss tried to reduce our Corporation Tax"
No she did not !
She tried to maintain corporation tax at the rate it had been for 18 months (19%). She planned to cancel the planned rise but she was not reducing the corporation tax rate.
.
ROI corporation tax rate is 12.5% but this is only for income earned in ROI from companies with an Irish tax code. This is not the problem. The problem is they use a set of complex rules to allow foreign companies to transfer Intellectual Property to ROI which results in them paying an Effective Tax Rate of 2.2 - 4.5% on profits that have nothing to do with Ireland.

5. Island Mentality , Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 13:41:

"We are already seeing push-backs against the EU's increasing powers"
I'd say that these push-backs are mostly because the social character of those countries has been altered - mostly by Russia.
Every EU member has known what the EU is for quite some time - except those whose MEPs barely turned up for meetings.
All member states were part of the process & knew "the direction of travel" & had it in their power to alter it or leave.
So no, the change is in the social attitudes of those countries, not rules they are well of as they help write them.
If they really cannot abide a rules-based structure then why don't they try their chances out in the wild where lawless Russia lies in wait?
Poland, Hungary, the Czechs & I'd even add to that Italy's Meloni & France's Le Pen were increasingly beginning to socially resemble Russia & even looked to him for inspiration, sending him gifts, go on visits etc before Russia's imperialist reveal. This applies most to Hungary than all, who even have their own dictator just like Putin.
All these countries disagree less & less on social/cultural matters with Russia except for the minor inconvenience of knowing that Russia would swallow them whole regardless.

6. gazzablack , Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 22:06:

5 Mental
.
You are like a sewage factory on steroids, you come out with so much 💩
.
The 'mighty Russia' would swallow them regardless!
It doesn't seem to be doing too well at swallowing Ukraine 'regardless', and they are all alone.
.
So the Poles, Hungarians, Czechs ,French and Italians were effectively cosying up to Russia?
But not Germany?
.
They wouldn't be out in the wild at the mercy of a waiting Russia, as they are ALL NATO members.
The two members that were not in NATO have now rushed to join, as they are not confidant that being members of the EU would be sufficient to protect them from Russian aggression.
.
Orban a dictator?, really?
He is as subject to the whims of the Hungarian electorate as the leaders of the rest of the EU members are to theirs.
While the EU commissioners aren't

7. Stephen Jenner , Thursday, August 24, 2023, 07:53:

Ireland left the UK in around 1946, although there had been a 'free state' from around 1922.
My wife is Irish and we visited around twice a year, through the 80s and 90s, the only documentation we ever offered was a driving licence, or a credit card etc..
That all changed when we left the EU, we had to carry passports.
Free movement... huh!

8. Island Mentality , Thursday, August 24, 2023, 19:48:

6.Given just how many will vote for sewage, drink out of the taps & still pay for it - you'd have a sewage factory too, if you had an idea. But you're too full of it. Do you cosy up to your water supplier? Germany was trapped in Russia's plan. They at least were not in it for autographs. They were trusting to a fault. The worst part of it is that the plans to ensnare them were laid down in print long before the pipes were laid in the ground.
If you don't see Orban as a dictator then you're just the sort of person dictators rely on. Orban has given speeches proudly advocating tor nullifying political debate, is frequently quoted for his desire of an “illiberal democracy” that is held in place by a 'force field' of power. That is dictatorship 101 - That's only to name a few of his dangerous tendencies.
He wants to be Putin but is also afraid of Putin. Him & those like him reluctantly feigned sensibility the minute Putin showed that unlike they, he seriously means to expand his empire - that he is not playing at being a dictator at home - something that they never thought he'd do to them, his fans. Just like how some will vote for such people, thinking they'll only 'hurt' other people - only to get everyone, themselves included, swallowed up.
Putin knows that being in NATO means nothing if NATO citizens will tear their country apart. Why would Putin have to fight NATO or the US when he has Trump, Orban & sycophantic voters to destroy countries for him from within? To Putin, he thinks of it as rebuilding in his image, not destroying.
He does not even want them annihilated, he wants them to see the world as he does, back when empires ruled & democracy was nowhere in sight.
At the rate that America is burning itself does Russia really need to do anything but wait? No, Putin only has to keep fanning the flames, turn up the propaganda & meddle in their elections - as Prigozhin openly admitted to doing before he fell out of the sky yesterday.

9. Island Mentality , Thursday, August 24, 2023, 19:54:

6.
The real problem is that, like many Brexiters, I guess you don't really know what the EU is - all you know is that you don't like it. I'd ask if you know what the implementing & delegating acts are, why they were brought in, what necessitated the change, what they replaced, who initiated the change, how it was decided on or whether that is a good or bad thing ... you probably don't know where to even begin, but I'm sure you know where to end.
I doubt that anyone here knows either, if they did, then they wouldn't claim it as something to be afraid of - other than that 'change is something to be afraid of'. No explanation was given as to why these changes are bad, except that "legal instruments" were adopted.
Discussions & debates are not like votes, where all you have to do is turn up - like the GOP debate where climate change was still being calmly talked about while record temperatures were being recorded. So if you want to discuss, don't rely on your vote, bring an idea along.

10. John Jones , Friday, August 25, 2023, 08:08:

You've already removed the link to TurbTime.com from my original post & indeed proscribed the full terms.
Post 2021, euref.com was renamed Turb Time to comment on global events in addition to Brexit - interestingly, Many of these events such as COVID and Ukraine impact on the EU /Brexit & still, to this day, get a good airing on Dr North 's renamed website - I'm reliably informed that at its peak Euref was getting in excess of 50,000 unique hits per day - this wasn't small beer in the scheme of things.
To this day Turb Time is published 7 days a week too.
There is more than enough room for two blogs relating to Brexit & EU related matters.

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