My father has talked about British sovereignty being given to Brussels over the last 35 years, and to some degree he’s correct. A series of treaties that have built upon each other, together these have given the European Parliament some significant powers in limited areas.
The next stepping stone was the Treaty of Lisbon, it created two posts that would be the EU equivalent of President and Foreign Secretary. These two appointments were in part designed to give the EU more of a “face” and give foreign diplomats and ministers someone to call instead of being forced into the maze of EU departments.
The appointment of two rather minor figures to these posts says an awful lot of how the 27 members of the EU see the role of the parliament and council.
These roles were being sold at one point as big posts with real power, have been filled by the Belgium center-right Prime minister and a Labour Party stalwart with zero experience running foreign affairs.
Not exactly figures that will be giving other heads of state sleepless nights. It is not just that the national leaders do not want a high profile rival, as Tony Blair would have been had he got the job. It also shows that the EU is far from a coherent political entity and to be fair it seems that some members do not want it to be.
The Union has accomplished many good things. It has tied everyone to each other and ended conflict in Europe, it has certainly led to growth and prosperity. It runs a single market, eliminated border controls and keeps playing fields between members level. However it seems its members are not quite ready to stand back while Brussels and Strasbourg based diplomats took over running the community.
The appointments show that the members were not ready to make Lisbon another step towards a United States of Europe. It is a small shuffle forward, but no more than that.
Incidentally the new president of Europe once said “Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe”. “The universal values which are in force in Europe, and which are fundamental values of Christianity, will lose vigour with the entry of a large Islamic country such as Turkey.”