Um texto excelente sobre a UE.

An excellent text about EU (I’ll try to have it translated within the next 2 days)

Roubado daqui (Stolen from here)

 

Europa para gente séria

O segredo do progresso da “integração” europeia está no facto de os países europeus não se levarem muito a sério. Não se levam a sério enquanto Estados. De outro modo, como explicar a disponibilidade e até o entusiasmo – ou pelo menos uma relutância muito fugidia – com que prescindem daquilo que mais os define como Estados? Como compreender que desistam com tanto silêncio e sem lágrimas, da capacidade legislativa que é constitutiva da sua soberania? E a soberania não mais quer dizer do que ter controlo sobre o próprio destino. Ora, os países europeus já não querem mais ter controlo sobre o seu próprio destino porque, por assim dizer, se tornaram umas piadas para eles mesmos.
Neste sentido muito unilateral, a União Europeia é o resultado das grandes e pequenas piadas que os países contam sobre eles mesmos. Ver o humor como motor da “integração europeia” não é necessariamente depreciativo. Pode ajudar a repor algumas coisas no seu devido lugar, como o riso sempre faz. É certo que também degrada a dignidade e gravidade do “projecto”. Porém, não vale a pena ver aqui argumentação anti-europeísta. Até porque as comunidades europeias nasceram de outra motivação bem diferente. Nos anos 50 e 60, os países europeus levavam-se bem a sério; sabiam bem quão perigosos eram. A constituição dessas primeiras comunidades assentou em motivos e propósitos inegavelmente nobres. Mas hoje, 65 anos depois da II Guerra Mundial, os motivos são outros. O “aprofundamento” da União é possível e inevitável porque, aos olhos dos seus cidadãos, os países europeus gozam de um estatuto perto do da anedota. Por enquanto, os europeístas não se preocupam com esta tendência; chegam mesmo a rejubilar com ela, como se de um sintoma superior de civilização se tratasse. Iludem-se. É uma questão de tempo até as piadas nacionais contagiarem a União; é uma questão de tempo até as piadas nacionais serem substituídas por uma grande piada europeia. Talvez por isso, em jeito de preparação, a “Europa” não assuma uma forma política. É que uma piada tem de poder ser contada de maneiras diferentes.

The Empire Strikes Back - O Império Contra-Ataca.

Ireland ‘to vote again on EU Lisbon treaty’

Irish Republic may hold second referendum on European treaty in October, reports claim

Press Association

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 December 2008 11.08 GMT

The Irish government looks set to agree to hold a second referendum on the stalled Lisbon treaty, it emerged today. …


 


Tratado de Lisboa: 27 chegam a acordo de princípio para repetição de referendo na Irlanda

11.12.2008 - 18h00 PÚBLICO, Agências

Os países europeus chegaram hoje a um acordo de princípio que prevê que a Irlanda realize um novo referendo sobre o Tratado de Lisboa até ao final de Novembro de 2009. O acordo foi conseguido no primeiro dia da cimeira da UE que se realiza hoje e amanhã em Bruxelas. …

EU Constitution and Lisbon Treaty: See the(re are no) differences

 

If you don’t believe what Valery Giscard d’Estaing himself said about the Lisbon Treaty in October 2007 (click on the image above) and still have any doubts that the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe are the same text in a different outfit, please take some time exploring the CONSTITREATY website. You’ll be surprised (or maybe not?).

The people don’t want this (Constitution) Treaty

NINETY-FIVE per cent of Express.co.uk readers would vote to leave the European Union if a referendum was held on Britain’s membership. […] Nearly 10,000 furious readers voted in our poll after we decided to hand democracy back to the people – and gave you a chance to have your say on the way current EU works. […] "We the public have never wanted to be subservient to any European State, indeed we have been fighting against this since 1066, long enough for the Government of the day to know the mind of its people.” […] (Daily Express, 95% say quit the EU, Monday July 14,2008, by Penny Stretton)

 

Aversion to the new EU Treaty now also appears to be spreading among Czech citizens, with a poll dated last Friday (11 July) revealing that the majority of the population is against the text, which is already under examination by the country’s court in an attempt by eurosceptics to prove that it is unconstitutional. […] The decision is expected in September or October, ahead of the next EU summit during which leaders want to decide how to proceed with the Lisbon Treaty following its rejection by the Irish. Despite pressure from other EU leaders to ratify the text before then, the Czech government has said it would not pass on the text to Parliament before the court ruling. […] (EurActiv.com, Fresh uncertainty looms over Czech treaty ratification, published Monday 14 July, 2008)

The fight for democracy is spreading (2)

German President Suspends Ratification of EU Lisbon Treaty (DW-World.de, European Union, 30.06.2008, DW staff (sp))

[…] German President Horst Koehler will not sign off on the ratification of the embattled EU’s Lisbon Treaty until the country’s Constitutional Court decides whether the reform accord is compatible with the country’s Basic Law, his office said on Monday, June 30. […]

 

The Lisbon treaty: Sarkozy’s next move (From The Times, July 2, 2008, Times online)
With the rejection of the treaty; France must rethink its EU presidency

Another protocol for Ireland or opening up the Lisbon Treaty for new negotiations? (by Daniela Schwarzer, Friday, 04 July 2008, Newropeans magazine)

The fight for democracy is spreading (1)

Poland in new blow to EU treaty

Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski says he will not sign the EU’s reform treaty at present, following its defeat in an Irish referendum last month. … (BBC News, Tuesday, 1 July 2008 09:04 UK)

Presidente polaco recusa assinar Tratado de Lisboa

O presidente polaco recusou assinar o Tratado de Lisboa. Em declarações a um jornal polaco, Lech Kaczynski justificou a sua decisão pelo facto de este documento já não fazer sentido depois do "não" irlandês. … (TSF, Hoje às 07:33)

 

The fight for democracy has just begun (4)

Expense Allowance Abuse by MEPs

Please, watch this video. You just have to click on the image bellow and you’ll be directed to its page on YouTube.

 

You may want to watch also this one: Van Buitenen’s final battle against EU corruption?

The fight for democracy has just begun (3)

A chance for Europe to face the New Truth (International Herald Tribune, By John Vinocur, Published: June 23, 2008)

[…] Hubert Védrine, the former French foreign minister, got it right: "Everybody knows that if there were referendums everywhere, the noes would have won in several countries. The disagreement between the elites and the populations is flagrant." (Védrine spoke before a poll last weekend showed France, had it voted, joining Ireland’s rejection front.)  […] What Europe could do, since it describes itself as the master of soft power, is stop trying to pile new, hard architecture on its soft mass. That means forgetting about becoming a mammoth lumbering with the cast iron paraphernalia of an all-purpose state. It could do things differently. And more simply. For example: concentrate its skills and energies on a single project. Deal with energy supply as a quasi-exclusive community priority for an unlimited period. People’s interest is there, and God knows there are enough bureaucrats in the 27 states and European Commission to handle all the rest of the business as usual. […]

London, England (AHN) - A British High Court advised Prime Minister Gordon Brown to defer the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty until a lawsuit filed by millionaire Stuart Wheeler is first resolved. […] (British PM Gordon Brown Holds Off Formal Ratification Of EU Treaty, June 20, 2008 10:05 p.m. EST, Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer)

European Union leaders have been forced to acknowledge that the Czech Republic may have difficulties passing the Lisbon reform treaty. From Prague, the BBC’s Rob Cameron explains why the Czechs have a problem with it. […] Czechs have long had a habit for subverting the system, a survival instinct born of centuries of foreign domination. […] (BBC News, Czechs used to bucking the system, last updated at 14:24 GMT, Friday, 20 June 2008 15:24 UK)
Portugal é um país independente desde 1143, tendo perdido essa indepedência apenas uma vez, entre 1580 e 1640. Deve ser por isso que os portugueses acham que ser patriota é apoiar a selecção nacional de futebol.
(translation: Portugal is an independent country ever since 1143, having lost its independence only between 1580 and 1640. Perhaps that’s why the Portuguese people today think that to be a patriot is to support the national football team.)

The fight for democracy has just begun (2)

Good humor is essential to maintain the moral high in any army, even the one who fights for peace and democracy.

 

After the Irish voted down the Lisbon Treaty last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had this to say: "A lot of Europeans do not understand how we are shaping Europe right now and building Europe, and we have to take account of that. . . . We have to change our way of building Europe." […] (OPINION, Let ‘Europe’ Vote, By KYLE WINGFIELD, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE, June 17, 2008, Brussels)

[…] So, I am certain of this: even if the Eurocrats, by sleight, blackmail and gerrymander, manage to yoke together the disparate, brawling menagerie from the Vistula to the Corrib, and Gibraltar to the Barents Sea, they’ll never plough a straight furrow. Never. Just watch. (Independent.ie, ‘No’ vote gives us all a chance to take fresh look at Europe, By Kevin Myers, Tuesday June 17 2008)

Europe’s century 

A vanishing Europe and lifestyle

We’d vote with our feet if the EU gave us half a chance 

Il faut construire l’Europe en respectant les peuples

The fight for democracy has just begun (1)

1. Let’s keep informed
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1. Vamos manter-nos informados/On va se tenir informés:
Aqui/Ici

Highlightenig some news:

Czech president says EU’s Lisbon treaty finished 

Real People 1, Eurocrats 0

Germans consider Euro Navy

A Vote for Ireland

Poll: Dutch Would Also Reject EU Treaty 

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