No United States of Europe




http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004 ... 18,00.html
By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON
Political Editor
September 24, 2007

NOTE: Lots of pics...check out article via the link


THE new European Constitution threatens to transform virtually every aspect of British life for ever.

From immigration to defence, from the economy to vital public services, it will hand Europe unprecedented new powers.

Ministers argue the new Treaty is simply trying to rewrite outdated rules that cannot cope with the EU’s huge expansion in recent years.

But their claims do not stand up to scrutiny. At every turn, the Treaty strips Britain of control over vital issues — and tightens the grip of Brussels on our future.

Our ability to veto decisions will be swept away in a raft of key areas, from justice to energy.

It will become virtually impossible for us to deport illegal immigrants, yet officers from Europol will be given new powers to prosecute British citizens.

While our Government surrenders powers with one hand, Brussels is relentlessly bolstering its control over Britain and the rest of Europe.

Here, we look at how the new Constitution will invade just about every corner of our lives.

THE new EU President will have sweeping powers — and he will get an army of 3,500 dedicated civil servants to help him impose them.

The post will eventually be directly elected, in the same way as the President of the United States. But the system will have infinitely less popular support than the American model.

It will entail merging the offices of President of the Council of Europe and President of the EU Commission into one powerful role. This was once opposed by Britain.

Tony Blair has already been nominated for the job by French President Nikolas Sarkozy and is eager to make it the next step in his career.

SERVICES

THE Constitutional Treaty puts the EU in charge of public health and ends the right of veto in this area.

The EU would regulate medical standards and a new right to preventative health care would open the NHS up to costly ambulance-chasing legal cases.

And the Constitution ends the veto over trade agreements in public services like health and education. So our Parliament would no longer have a say over deals which determine how these services are managed.

It also does nothing to rein in the European Court of Justice. In recent years it has produced a string of rulings which make it difficult to prioritise NHS spending and allows those who are willing to threaten legal action to jump the queue.

Under the Treaty Britain gives up the veto in transport. Jacques Barrot, EU Transport Commissioner, recently backed Europe-wide road-pricing operations. The AA says this will lead to a loss of privacy.

EMBASSIES

THE new EU foreign minister will preside over his own 5,500-strong diplomatic service — with EU embassies set up in every major world city as first port of call for European citizens abroad.

Our British embassies and consulates will then become redundant.

Even Euro MPs are alarmed by the prospect of this powerful group of bureaucrats — who threaten to take on an uncontrollable life of their own.

Spanish PM Jose Zapatero has bragged: “We will undoubtedly see European embassies in the world, not ones from each country, with European diplomats and a European foreign service.

“We will see Europe with a single voice in security matters, a single voice within NATO. We want more unity.â€