Lying eurosceptics
Someone asked me recently about the claims made by "No2EU - Yes to Democracy", a eurosceptic group (supported by the RMT, one of the larger British trade unions) running in the coming European elections.
I had a look at the site, concentrating in particular on the page about EU foreign policy, which is my particular area of interest. I was startled to see that it starts and ends with two outright lies.
The header to the article reads as follows: The Lisbon Treaty further militarises the EU
One of the articles of the Constitution allows for the death penalty to be introduced "in time of war or of imminent threat of war".
There is no such text in the Lisbon Treaty or in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. The line quoted is from Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is not an EU document, not a Constitution, commits its signatories to abolish the death penalty except in extraordinary circumstances, and has anyway been in force since 1998 so it is a bit late to start worrying about it now.
The final paragraph of the No2EU article reads as follows (original punctuation preserved): The Lisbon Treaty does not require EU military actions to be in accordance with the United Nations Charter,
I quote from the text of the Lisbon Treaty, paragraph 49, my emphasis: The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall provide the Union with an operational capacity drawing on civilian and military assets. The Union may use them on missions outside the Union for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.
Most of the other statements on the page are debatable, but it's pretty brave (or something) to put two such blatant untruths top and bottom. A useful reminder that the eurosceptic Left can be just as crazy as the eurosceptic Right.
I had a look at the site, concentrating in particular on the page about EU foreign policy, which is my particular area of interest. I was startled to see that it starts and ends with two outright lies.
The header to the article reads as follows: The Lisbon Treaty further militarises the EU
One of the articles of the Constitution allows for the death penalty to be introduced "in time of war or of imminent threat of war".
There is no such text in the Lisbon Treaty or in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. The line quoted is from Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is not an EU document, not a Constitution, commits its signatories to abolish the death penalty except in extraordinary circumstances, and has anyway been in force since 1998 so it is a bit late to start worrying about it now.
The final paragraph of the No2EU article reads as follows (original punctuation preserved): The Lisbon Treaty does not require EU military actions to be in accordance with the United Nations Charter,
I quote from the text of the Lisbon Treaty, paragraph 49, my emphasis: The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall provide the Union with an operational capacity drawing on civilian and military assets. The Union may use them on missions outside the Union for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.
Most of the other statements on the page are debatable, but it's pretty brave (or something) to put two such blatant untruths top and bottom. A useful reminder that the eurosceptic Left can be just as crazy as the eurosceptic Right.