I spoke yesterday on the Roadmap to a Single EuropeanTransport Area (04 July 2011):
Setting those issues [of planning] aside, I want to make two points about sovereignty. First, on the technical side, there are questions about pricing, taxation and how the Government will work within the framework of the EU, which I touched on in my questions. Secondly, there is an issue of principle. I do not think that anyone reading the document earnestly, and with an open mind, could infer anything other than the fact that it sets out a transport plan for a single nation state—by “nation state”, I mean an organisation with a territorial monopoly on the use of coercion. Getting some of these things through will require legislation—that is the intention—and I do not doubt that the EU will legislate and legislate, and expand and expand, until it gets its way. I sincerely believe that if we wish to live in a country that is legitimate and governed legitimately, we have to look carefully at these grand planned dreams for the whole of Europe and ask whether they are valid and whether they have been democratically endorsed by our populations.
Is this the relevant document?
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/strategies/2011_white_paper_en.htm
PDF version here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0144:FIN:EN:PDF
The summary alone is suggestive enough:
“The European Commission adopted a roadmap of 40 concrete initiatives for the next decade to build a competitive transport system that will increase mobility, remove major barriers in key areas and fuel growth and employment. At the same time, the proposals will dramatically reduce Europe’s dependence on imported oil and cut carbon emissions in transport by 60% by 2050.”
Setting aside questions about whether any nation state should establish policies to “fuel growth and employment” or decide the appropriate level of carbon emissions for its citizens, it does seem clear that the EU is acting like a nation state here. Even those who trust our government to get things right (anyone?) should ask themselves whether they want to trust the Eurocrats.
That’s it indeed.
Steve – I ve just read that document myself…..tend to agree with you tbh. The average voter in the UK is inclined to be very suspicious of any EU legislation or intiative.
On a related note, I ve just watched todays TSC session on HS2 , I have to say that the quality of todays ” guests ” was very poor, they seemed to wilt under pressure and didnt come across as very articulate. Whilst I m a fan of the project myself, the one sticking point is the actual build cost on a per kilometere basis, which in my view deserves an inquiry on its own. When complete, at £33 billion, this would actually equate to the book value today of the entire rail infrastructure in the UK!!