While everyone in Brussels seems to be celebrating the fact that the Lisbon Treaty is about to be formally signed. May I take this opportunity to point out the growing dangers of the unelected and undemocratic EU? As an British citizen, having lived under the auspices of the EU, I have been subjected to at least five attempts on my life because of my opposition to the EU dictatorship. My own government placed me under 24 surveillance and watched everything I did. I think it is about time the people of the EU woke up to the evil of this dangerous organisation and started to oppose it before it is too late. Wake up NOW!

Fully agree, Hajo.

@Julien Frisch

Thank you for your support, sir, it is nice to know that we have friends across Europe. Would you be willing to join our campaign? All we Eurosceptics need to get together and campaign jointly together, not just in Christian prayer, but in all forms of active and peaceful campaigning. The more the word spreads the more support we will get. We need people who reach websites like Twitter etc., our website is here: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/ouk/ Thanks for your time and assistance in these matters!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t agree more. It is yet again national politics that obtain priority leaving the still important post of commissioner behind. In my believe you can argue two ways against Mr. Oettinger member (perhaps even vice-president) of the EC.

Firstly his persona: He’s the least qualified compared to those that had been “shortlisted” lately. Apparently he’s good at “negotiating” from an unflexible position. Germany will be taking a stronger, national, position in the European affairs suggests the coalition agreement. (Not to mention the whole issue of 2007 and his Filbinger speech)

Secondly the process of choosing him has yet again been more than intransparent and fully caused by national and internal considerations. How else can we all be so suprised?

In my opinion Merkel totally failed to fullfil her special responsibility as head of government of the biggest Member State in the EU to strengthen the institutions, especially with an already weak head of commission as Mr. Barroso is. It’s very likely that Oettinger will preside in a rather important issue.

It’s all in all just sad.

@Stephen

I am quite critical to the EU, but not as radical as you are. And I am a convinced European in favour of overcoming the worn-out national perspective.

My agreement was thus directed towards Hajo, the author of the post.

Sorry for that…

If Barroso has a sense of humour he should give Öttinger the Multilingualism portfolio.

Anyway what are the chances of the European parliament blocking the commission formation because of this guy?

Julien,

QUOTE: “I am a convinced European in favour of overcoming the worn-out national perspective.”

OK, you may be right. So what is wrong in finding out through a bit of democracy?

Somehow I don’t think that you’ll agree, or if you do your idea of democracy won’t involve asking the people outright.

This vast democratic deficit will end in tears one day. I certainly don’t give the EU more than 30-50 years before collapsing under its own weight. What will be left?

Stephen Kingsdon, give it up.
You just don’t get the support in the other eu-member states.

The biggest eu sceptic nation is the uk: and there it’s 50-50.
After that it’s the czechs about 50-50 to.
after that all the other nation states are above 60 percent in favor.
And that’s in recession!

So give it up, we won’t allow you to tear up 60 years of hard work and money!

After Verheugen primarily having played the role of the advocate of the German industry in Brussels in the last few years one would have hoped for a more cosmopolitan and not as industry-oriented German Commissioner.
These hopes have been squashed with the nomination of Oettinger. Being Ministerpresident in Baden Wuerttemberg, where lots of the German manufacturing industry is located, Oettinger will probably follow Verheugen’s course.
And, as Hajo and others have already noted, in Germany Oettinger is most prominently known for his poor language and communication skills – having caused the one or the other mishap and having added to his increasing unpopularity. In this regard one could imagine a better suited person taking the task of communicating Europe to the public.
It remains the hope that Oettinger recognizes that his nomination primarily was an act of the German Christian Democrats to get rid of an unpopular politician and that he follows Hajo’s appeal to step back.

@ramonnl

Ramonni, you mean that you are willing to allow a dictator to control every aspect of your life? And if he even ‘thinks’ you are a threat to him, will murder you? What kind of planet are you on? You are completely out of touch with reality.

I can’t afford to give up! I am prepared to sacrifice my life, just like the Lord Jesus Christ did at Calvary, that others may live in freedom.

Think very carefully about what you would wish upon 460 million Europeans.

here is a link to Oettinger’s twists and turns regarding a controversial figure from the Hitler-era: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoHiCRj9XAM

Not an easy question to answer, Hajo, as it’s always easier to criticize than to make good constructive recommendations. And here latter means that I have to match given requirements on a German candidate for Barroso II (Conservative or Liberal) with my personal demands (cosmopolitan, not too industry-oriented, not too worn-out, popular to the German public, and why not a female). Nevertheless, I’ll give it a try.

The given requirements clearly rule out otherwise conceivable candidates like Martin Schulz or Joschka Fischer.

Coming to my personal demands, none of the most prominently discussed candidates really would make me happy. E.g. Elmar Brok, Wolfgang Schäuble or Roland Koch: too worn-out and/or unpopular. Christian Wulff: where’s the cosmopolitan? Peter Hintze: not really a fresh face either.
Looking at the discussed female candidates, this leaves us to the Liberal MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin and the German minister for family affairs Ursula von der Leyen.
Regarding Silvana Koch-Mehrin, half a year ago she could have been a conceivable candidate for ‘giving Europe a face’. But that was prior to her ‘EP absenteeism scandal’..
And Ursula von der Leyen? Maybe, at least she is quite popular in Germany. Though the cosmopolitan in her isn’t really self-evident.

So why not think about someone new to the political landscape, like Juliane Kokott, the German advocate general at the ECJ? Though having no party affiliation she is said to be rather conservative. And her media presence seems to hint that she isn’t a pure bureaucratic legal expert. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time for a jurist to change to the political sphere, or vice versa.

Though I’m not sure whether this would convince Merkel to step back her idea of sending Oettinger to Brussels. She’d have to deal with nominating a new advocate general and with troublemaker Oettinger remaining on the domestic scene.

I warned shortly before the Irish vote that Germany was showing dangerous signs of a return to economic and political nationalism.

I expected more respect from Merkel for the EU project, after all it was that cold day in March 2007 that she restarted the Lisbon issue.

It would be wise to remember, transparency then was also out the window, wasn’t she the only politican to know what was going to be read that day……top secret Stasi style

Stephen Kingsdon,

When you speak of unelected officials, do you refer to the members of the British house of lords? Or to UK government ministers? Or your Supreme Court? Or maybe to the Queen?
No, of course not, you mean by that the EU Officials, and you seem to not understand the principle that underline its structure.

All states in Europe are either Republics or Constitutional Monarchies and just a few have a direct democracy element. That means our states are not modeled on Athens of Pericles, where the citizen body determined everything.
Underlying our systems is the idea of representative democracy, which means that we elect some individuals which then appoint in our names other officials and take decisions.

I wonder, to what office do you refer in the EU when, you say “dictatorship”?

The main EU body is the Council, which is made up by the executives of the member states – Brown, Sarkozy, Merkel etc.

The Council proposes then a Commission president, which carries out Council decisions. The proposed Commission president and his team – Barroso – have to be then confirmed by the EU parliament. His team, the other commissioners, are appointed by the member states (their executives and legislatives)

Frankly, I am disappointed by the talk coming out of GB lately. Just leave the EU when you don’t like it, but don’t try to destroy it. You already get a rebate, other states are paying much more, in absolute terms and in per capita terms. But your country has profited big time, when it came to the European open market. British companies have been operating all over Europe, new and old.

Plus the EU has made balance of power politics obsolete and a new war is just completely unimaginable.

Think about it

Hajo, but you know that this guy is spelled also in German with Oe and not Ö ?

You might be right, but do you really know what you are talking about if you dont know his name ????

answer from Hajo: Yes, you are right, Mark. But, it doesn’t change my judgement. Similar case: President Poettering/Pöttering.

Merkel did the best she could do. Concerning to national interests she had to get rid of him and eu policy is not this famous in germany that he could do any harm to the christian-democrat party from brussels (Hast du einen Opa, schick’ ihn nach Europa!). In fact, the problem is the loss of importance of european politics, thats why all this issues are not taken seriously by the federal republic. So as long this is the case, we should, instead of trying to change the obvious, see where it comes from and start changing here. Deeper Integration in the European Union will lead to better fitting personal agenda. By the way, it has been not the communication skills of baden-württembergers what made them one of the richest and most innovative german states.

As to your comment cited below: who sits in the glass house shall not throw with stones …

“Something is clear: Günther Öttinger has now to learn not only English. We know: the common european language will become bad English. He also needs to learn speaking German understandable for everyone – also his interpretors. “We can everything, exept of speking good german” (Wir können alles, außer Hochdeutsch), is the title of a public relation campaign of Baden-Württemberg.”

Answer from Hajo: Dear Lotta, thank you for your comment. But, even sitting in the glass house I dare to throw stones – and speak bad english.

Euroskeptics continue to be rolled over by the German-Jesuit EU juggernaut. It’s clear the “little people” don’t count (so much for referendums and transparency) when the elitists in the Tower of Brussels have already made up their mind for them – whether or not they realize it or want to face this harsh reality.

Unsuccesful? No competences? I’m all for this candidate then.

We in the Netherlands (that is, we the peoples, not the politicians who don’t represent us at all) favor rolling back political integration.

Just watch the next coming election in Netherlands. Federalists OUT! Economic cooperation (EEC) yes, political integration no.

The EU would be a lot better off if everyone accepted that an EEC level of cooperation is the only thing that virtually everyone will agree on. You will fail in attempts to get rid of national focus by politicians. And the mood of many of the peoples as I said is towards more national focus, not less. It is towards less integration, not more.

The whole ‘ram the treaty through no matter what’ process that we somehow managed to stall for 8 years has opened many eyes.

Sure, Lisbon gets through, enjoy your pyhrric victory, federalists!

@John
John, did you actually read my first statement? I know in Britain that we have undemocratic institutions like HM Queen but we actually TRUST these institutions. We do NOT trust the EU ones. Like why did they have to FORCE the Irish Republic, on TWO separate occassions, to do TWO do REPEAT referendums on separate treaties? This is NOT democracy but dictatorship. “One must keep voting until one finds the vote is acceptable and correct!” How do you explain to me why I have had at least five attempts made on my life while living under the auspices of the EU? I have a democratic right to stay ALIVE if you don’t mind! I will continue to fight tyranny and extremists like you whereever I see them.

@ Stephen

Your comments are just pathetic!

Give the grim mood concerning national politic in the UK I wonder how you can still trust your government. And I refer to domestic issues, not EU politics.

But in England public opinion is built on the glorification of the Commonwealth, the stigmatisation of France as the home of cowards, the NAZIs and as a new dimension the great foe Europe. Every nation needs its enemy and people like you willingly jump on the wagon.

Has he not understood?

@Matti
Matti, are my comments pathetic? I don’t think so as I am just stating facts. The real truth hurts! We trust our Queen because she is anointed of God but we don’t trust our government because they are absolutely corrupt, even the PM Gordon Brown has been affected by the Parliamentary expenses scandal. I am not jumping on the wagon, I am being realistic. The UK needs to return to its core values and that is the Word of God, the Holy Bible, not the whims of man as portrayed by the EU extremists. However, as I do understand, I don’t think that you do sadly. Britain has defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, the Dutch around the 1700s, the French in 1815, the Germans in 1918 and in 1945, and the Argentinians in 1982. Every time we have a national emergency, we return to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and start praying again. We will defeat the European Union accordingly.

@Stephen Kingsdon

You are aware that God is with the Germans, aren’t you? It was written on the belt buckle of their uniforms and must thus be true. It also explains why God chose a queen for you who is of German descent.

Ronald Grünebaum : @Stephen Kingsdon
You are aware that God is with the Germans, aren’t you?

Given the timbre of your post, I take it you’re referring to the god of this world.

Frankly, I am disappointed by the talk coming out of GB lately. Just leave the EU when you don’t like it, but don’t try to destroy it. You already get a rebate, other states are paying much more, in absolute terms and in per capita terms. But your country has profited big time, when it came to the European open market. British companies have been operating all over Europe, new and old.

Plus the EU has made balance of power politics obsolete and a new war is just completely unimaginable

Wow. Naïveté at its strongest. The EU was conceived to be a war machine. Don’t believe me? then look up statements by people like Helmut Kohl or Franz Josef Strauss.