Letter: Tyranny of the EU
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Christoph Thun-Hohenstein ("Reforming Europe needs vision", 23 October) urged that the nature of European Union institutions be reconsidered before enlargement makes this task even more intractable. He saw the need for a "vision" of the EU's future to guide this task. There was a fleeting reference to "democratic legitimacy".
There is no democratic legitimacy in EU institutions. There is an uncontrolled bureaucratic executive, the EC. It is also subject to a European Parliament whose membership will become increasingly fragmented and irrelevant due to enlargement and PR elections, and which has just shown itself chiefly committed to bogus expenses.
There is now also a Central Bank which is not only unaccountable by design, but which will not even deign to explain its actions, and which disdains participation in "co-ordinated action" to alleviate the present global financial malaise.
The EC's policies are increasingly interventionist, protectionist and socialist. Free trade is OK so long as it is within EU boundaries and French, German and Italian governments, in particular, can flagrantly flout EC policies, on fair competition, for example. In this country we take them too seriously.
Cheating, it might be said, is "institutionalised" in the EU. Everybody cheats, from governments to MEPs to phantom olive growers.
As for democracy, it is a young and often delicate plant in many EU member states. We are seeing the evolution of an infrastructure for a future tyranny stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals.
Might a vision of the future EU somehow embrace constitutional commitment to concepts such as honesty, transparency, accountability? Dream on. As Thun-Hohenstein hints, it's really about power, and whatever French elitists might think, the usual suspect will win. Let's get out of it.
M J KNIGHT
Slough,
Berkshire
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments