Floru for Europe

THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF AUBERGINES

Europe will scrap exacting regulations about shapes and sizes of produce. It’s illegal to sell fruit which is “out of shape”. The Telegraph relates how food inspectors refused a market trader from Bristol to sell kiwis which were 1mm too large.

Ridiculous regulations relating to citrus fruit, apples, bananas, lettuces, peaches and nectarines, strawberries, sweet pepper, table grapes, pears and tomatoes remain in place. One Eurocrat said bananas will continue to have to be “free from abnormal curvature” as no complaints had been received. Do they read the press in Brussels?

One Eurocrat stated on the Today Programme that “supermarkets want these regulations”. It is not up to governments to second-guess what supermarkets want to sell.

An estimated 20 % of the British harvest is thrown away because it's not the rights shape – adding an estimated 40 % to the cost of, for example, carrots.

Northern European countries continue to enforce ridiculous regulations, which are happily ignored in the south.

For a good laugh, read the EU regulations on aubergines - click here.

Filed 12 November 2008

FATAL ATTRACTION

Remember the scene? The evil Glenn Close is drowned in a bathtub after a bloody fight. You breathe a sigh of relief and grab for a drink. But…she isn’t death and pops up again. Your little sister screams and you watch in horror.

Today it’s not Glenn Close who gives us a fright by coming back from the death – it’s John Maynard Keynes. The attempt to kill off his theories did not take a few minutes but thirty years.

Labour has learned nothing and harks back to the policies which landed us into the prolonged economic slump of the seventies. Keynes said that governments should pump money into the economy when the private sector doesn’t. Only… this was proved not to work. The money comes from the private sector which therefore invests less. The public works projects take many years to complete, instead of giving the instant boost we need. Big spending becomes engrained: once a project is started it’s rarely scrapped. And last but not least: it ends in stagflation : very high inflation and very low growth.

What we need is not megalomaniac public works programmes. What we need is tax cuts. Telegraph Blog

Filed 20 October 2008

SYMBOLS OF STATEHOOD ADOPTED BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The “Ode to Joy” (from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony), the European flag, Europe Day (9 May, to celebrate European integration), and a motto “United in diversity” have been added to the procedural rules of and by the European Parliament. These symbols were initially included in the European constitution which died when the Dutch and the French rejected it in referendums. The symbols were subsequently left out of the Lisbon Treaty, but sixteen EU states annexed a declaration to recognise the symbols anyway.

So this is an attempt by the European Parliament to bypass national sovereignty.

Earlier it was announced that the Ode to Joy would be played when the EU president was about to speak to the European Parliament, and that MEPs would have to stand up. This is not part of this announcement. I suggest that it should be included for British LibDem and Labour MEPs only, and that the standing should be replaced by the kowtow.

Filed 9 October 2008

MOBILE PHONE CHARGES AND THE PLANTING OF POSITIVE EU NEWS

I would be amazed if today’s “positive” story about mobile phone roaming charges was not planted by an EU spin doctor. There is nothing new about this story and it has already been on the front pages a number of times before. So why again today? Is it a coincidence that the BBC enthusiastically reports this story? The same BBC which refuses to send journalists to any eurosceptic event?

The capping of text messages sent from abroad is a typical example of the socialists’ make-believe world of “something for nothing”. Is sounds good: we will have to pay less when texting granny that we’ve arrived safely in France. That the mobile phone companies will simply recover the lost earnings elsewhere was not mentioned by our EU friends.

I look forward to the next EU plant of “positive” news. Please comment on my Telegraph Blog.

Filed 23 September 2008

HANNAN AND CARSWELL BOOK LAUNCH

On Wednesday two of our soundest politicians launch their book “The Plan: Twelve months to renew Britain”. Daniel Hannan MEP and Douglas Carswell MP have had the courage to stick to their convictions even in the light of adversity throughout the years.

The book is a blueprint as to how to get power back to YOU : back from Brussels to Westminster, from Whitehall to the town halls and from the state to the individual.

You can order the book for £10 or download it for a fiver from here.

Filed 22 September 2008

MacShane can’t cope with the will of the people

Former Europe Minister Denis MacShane has said that a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Britain would cause the BNP, UKIP and other anti-Europeans to indulge in months of xenophobic and isolationist hysteria. He uttered these words as a reaction to Stuart Wheeler’s call for a referendum. It is already Conservative Party policy to hold a referendum on Lisbon if the Lisbon Treaty has not yet become law by the time they get into power.

It’s the EU which is isolationist. For the last fifty years it has withdrawn behind a wall of protectionism. We in Britain want to sail the seven seas and trade freely with the world. Nobody should keep us back. Open Europe Blog.

Filed 19 September 2008

AUDITORS REFUSE TO SIGN OFF EU ACCOUNTS – EPISODE 14

The European Court of Auditors will not sign off the EU’s 2007 accounts – for the 14th consecutive year. The Common Agricultural Policy and the projects under the Structural and Cohesion Funds are particularly prone to “errors”.

As a result of the CoA’s refusal, José Barroso will miss his goal of having the accounts signed off. The Court will publish its report on 10 November.

Filed 16 September 2008 (Source: Open Europe)

BUYING VOTES

You can read my article for the Taxpayers' Alliance about politicians buying votes with taxpayers'money by clicking here.

Filed 8 September 2008

GISCARD OFFERS BRITAIN A SPECIAL STATUS WITHIN THE EU AT GLOBAL VISION CONFERENCE

Former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing addressed a conference organised by Global Vision and The Daily Telegraph in central London this morning. Giscard believes that it should be possible for Britain to negotiate a Special Status within the EU – basically opting out of certain new policy fields. Whether or not that would include elements of past European treaties remained rather unclear – at several times he said this was not acceptable to most European countries, but then indicated that it might be negotiated.

I have the slight suspicion that the Irish Republic might be offered precisely such a special status. In fact Giscard mentioned that Ireland had asked to be excused from certain elements which would infringe upon its common law tradition. Were Ireland excused from the elements which infringe its constitution, the Lisbon Treaty might just become acceptable enough for its citizens to say “yes” next time.

 

My friend Tim Akers of the Taxpayers’ Alliance pointed out to me that the special status would be a red herring for as long as the European Court of Justice remained supreme above UK law. Indeed, whenever there would be a conflict about the Special Status it would normally be decided by the pro-European ECJ. Therefore any Special Status would need to include clauses which undo the ECJ supremacy.

Filed 8 September 2008

YOU MAY BE EXTRADITED TO EUROPE EVEN THOUGH YOU DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A TRIAL

Soon Britain may be under an obligation to extradite you to another European country even though you did not know a trial had been held against you in that country.

European Justice Ministers have agreed to make extradition compulsory when there is a judgment in absentia against a European citizen in another country. Until 2001 there were no trials in absentia in Britain – another example of how our civil liberties have been eroded. This Labour government is now backing compulsory extradition when a judgment was obtained in absentia. Click here for the full briefing note from Open Europe.

Filed 3 September 2008

Copyright Floru 2007