You are Europeans as I am a EuropeanI am proud to be an Irishman and a European Indeed, we are all proud to be European.
But when will Brussels have pride and trust in the citizens of Europe ?
Because until they have trust in the citizens of Europe, logically those citizens cannot have trust in them. In the past few days, in the statements and actions of the combined defeated Yes side in both Dublin and Brussels, it is becoming clear to me that it is the determined intention of the unelected, unaccountable Brussels elite and the servile yes men that seek their favour, while failing to fulfill their solemn duty to their own electorates, to categorically reject once again the voice of a sovereign people raised against the antidemocratic draft of the European constitution, or as they now prefer to call it, the Lisbon Treaty.
In Ireland sooner or later, and probably sooner, in a move and using tactics reminiscent of anti-democrats everywhere, there will be a second referendum designed to produce the only result acceptable to Brussels.
Their pre-referendum lying has already begun.
A second referendum for which there is no mandate in Ireland, is not democracy it in fact mocks democracy. (Perhaps we should have a new word for this Brussels phenomenon; it is “re-mockracy” in the making). We are here today from Lyon, Paris, Marseille, La Vendée and from our villages, cities and towns across France and indeed this Union of ours, I say our union, not theirs, not of the unelected, unaccountable elites but OUR European Union, the peoples, the hundreds of millions of individuals that are Europe.
This Union is OURS!
And we the people must be empowered to decide the future of Europe and our role as individuals within it.
To be empowered as an individual, one must have a voice, to have a voice one must have a vote, it is our fundamental right as Europeans to individually, NOT just collectively, but individually to choose our futures and our leaders. As I pointed out to President Sarkozy a few weeks ago : “le Traité de Lisbonne est mort”. According to its own rules, the European Union cannot now ratify this rehashed Constitution.
This, a Constitution already rejected at the ballot box by your own countrymen and women and those of the Netherlands just three short years ago.
And what has changed in those three short years, what ?
The unelected, unaccountable European elites willfully ignored the democratic will of the peoples of France and the Netherlands and now they are doing the same to Ireland. Those elites conspired to change only those elements of the Constitution which would again trigger referendums in member states.
Those elites decided that they know what’s best for all of us and that we do not need to be consulted any further.And now, in Ireland, the quiet men of Brussels seek to crush the final free voice of a people who were the only citizens of Europe to have their voices heard, and most heartbreakingly they conspire and connive with the mediocre so called leaders of those people. To have those leaders betray their own people. Is this really how Brussels proposes to redress the democratic deficit at the heart of the European project?
Is this really how we Europeans will build a strong, sustainable and successful future for the European Union? Is this really how we can turn the most successful peace project of modern times into the most successful economic, democratic and social achievement of the 21st century and beyond?
Is it ?
No !
Exactly how stupid do they think we the people of Europe are?
Why do they fear the almost half a billion citizens of Europe so much? Why do they so despise the people?
Why are they not as proud of those citizens as those citizens are proud of being European?
I am so very proud of the people of Ireland for stopping the Lisbon Treaty in its tracks and for giving our fellow Europeans this opportunity to really think about where we need Europe to go, how we should embrace the future. It is clear that in order to succeed; the European Union must be built from the sovereign citizen up; not from the elite down.
If Europe is to have a new Constitution / Treaty, call it what you will, it must have the legitimacy of the support of its citizens. If it is to gain that legitimacy the citizens of Europe, all of them, must have their say. Such a Constitution / Treaty needs to be upfront and honest in what it seeks to achieve. I accept it must be ambitious, it must be Just…… it must be readable, it must speak to European hearts by showing that it regards and respects them as individuals in whatever communities, cultures, nations, or identities that they hold dear. It must provide for democracy, accountability and transparency at the heart of European governance.
Rule one of a new Fundamental Treaty/Constitution, might be that if it is more than twenty five pages, then the answer is no. Such a Treaty must then be put to the vote in referenda; right across Europe and the people will grant or withhold their approval. Their wishes will be final because it is from the people that all political power and legitimacy devolves. It is an important part of the very essence of our freedom.
If the people say no it’s back to the drawing board, Brussels doesn’t get to keep asking the same stupid question. Here we are in France, a nation whose very name derives from the meaning of freedom, of liberty. France, the eldest daughter of Europe, this great corner of the earth, through the ages. From Gaul, Brittany, Burgundy, Vendee and Normandy, the Gauls, the Franks – the French people – have always lived and breathed that spirit of liberty, of justice and of courage in the face of adversity.
France is Europe’s beating heart.
And France can be the keystone to building Europe’s future.It is here that Europe’s future must be decided and guaranteed for its citizens, for our future generations and for the survival of our civilisation.It has been France’s role through the ages, to rise to the great challenges that faced Europe.
In 1940, a great Frenchman stood alone on a foreign soil and said No to enemies of Liberty. With his great victory, Charles de Gaulle, that noble son of France helped secure the hopes of Western Civilisation and kept a candle burning for those principles which were to underpin European culture for future generations. Principles rooted in our ancient foundations in Greek democracy, the Roman Republic and Judeo-Christian values.
The precious dignity of the individual, the rule of law, the value of hard work and sacrifice, the rejection of slavery of the body and of the mind. And, most importantly of all, the value and power of love and respect for one’s fellow man.
One of many places we can look to see that respect being represented is in the democratic process, where the people are engaged in the decision making process in the most fundamental way. It is that they, the people, who are sovereign and all political power derives from them as individuals, delegated to elected representatives through the ballot box. Democracy, it’s a good idea the French people, in their wisdom, figured that out quite some time ago.
Other parts of the world can rightfully congratulate themselves on their recent preparedness to promote women into positions of power.In France a young woman from Orléans donned her armour for truth, justice, faith and France almost 600 years ago.
The truth is that France is a place where good ideas have existed and been championed for a long, long time.
Like Joan of Arc, like Charles de Gaulle, I believe that for France, and for Europe, our best days still lie ahead of us.Among those many good French ideas was the French people’s courage and foresight in saying No to the European Constitution.
What the unaccountable elite in Brussels has failed to understand as they try to define Europe through ever-growing piles of directives, treaties, rules and regulations is that Treaties are only written on paper.They are not written on the hearts of men and women. That Europe, in the current Brussels variant, has failed to speak to the hearts of Europeans is clear to us all.
But the fact that this failure, if continued is highly likely to result in the overall failure of the European project needs to be shouted from the mountaintops across Europe.
The good news is that it can be saved.It can be saved by opening the windows and letting the light of democracy, transparency and accountability shine into every dark corner of the Brussels establishment. That’s the kind of Europe Schuman and Monnet would have wanted. Indeed that champion of the European Union and great Frenchman, Jean Monnet, pointed out that:
“People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognise necessity when a crisis is upon them”
With the current Brussels Elite’s denial of democracy their self imposed illegitimacy, their impotence in the face of outside threats, their contempt for the voice of the sovereign individual, the looming possibility of an economic crisis not seen for over half a century. And worst of all our failure as a civilization to make the most important investment and manifestation of all hope, having enough children, we are now reaching that crisis and change is not only necessary but inevitable.
It is inevitable because we must and will rise to these challenges, we can no longer ignore them, they will not be fixed by someone else, they must be grappled with and overcome by this generation, here and now.
In June of next year at the European Parliament elections, the people of France will have their say on the Lisbon Treaty – you have already said No, its time to say No again to the same anti-democratic formula and to demand an accountable, democratic Europe.
Next years European elections can be the referendum that the people of Europe have been denied – there can be a clear choice, candidates that support and will not stop the antidemocratic Lisbon Treaty – and those that will, doing so from a positive pro European perspective championing democratic accountability at the heart of the union. Let France lead again, say No to anti-democracy – Join with us in helping to place France at the heart of the challenge to return Europe to those to whom it really belongs : it’s almost half a billion citizens and their aspirations for their children, grandchildren and our future generations.
Let us step forward together, with courage and confidence and say Good Morning Europe, that this new century belongs to us, to the people of Europe, that once again we have what it takes to lead the world. Let’s invite the world to watch and witness a new European Renaissance, in economy, in industry, in learning, in championing the value of the individual and the liberty of mankind.
Let us take up the mantle here in France and recognize that it falls to all and every single one of us, to this generation, to wake Europe from our slumber and say as Churchill said for European democracy when its flame was almost extinguished “We will not go quietly into the night”.
For this is France and we are the people of Europe, we know where we came from we can and will define a new vision, let us fulfill that destiny, rise to the challenge, say no to the antidemocratic Brussels of the Lisbon Treaty and Yes to a democratic, transparent and accountable Europe that can lead the world to a place worth going to.
Non à la faillite démocratique du traité de Lisbonne, Oui à une Europe des démocraties, transparente, et responsableUne Europe qui illumine et étonne le monde…
Vive la France
Vive l’Irlande
Vive l’Europe
Greg L-W.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
Nigel Farage made a strong statement about the credibility of the eurosceptic movement, singling out the Anti-Maastricht Alliance, saying that it was time for something new.
Ukip-vs-EUkip 