.

NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Friday, June 13, 2014

Marine Le Pen: The EU robbed us of all liberties




Elections to the European Parliament have brought groundbreaking changes in the structure of EU’s most powerful body: right wing parties along with Eurosceptics, an outsiders just a few years ago, have now taken the political scene. Front Nacional party in France gets the majority - signifying that people want change; the same with other nations. But what now? Is the European change of course inevitable? What will happen to the Union itself?


Sophie Shevardnadze: Last time we talked you predicted in the EU elections you’d become the number one party in France - and here we are. What’s the very first thing you want to do?

Marine Le Pen: The first thing that I will do is constitute a group in the European parliament to be able to prevent any new advances towards European federalism, which I consider to be profoundly anti-democratic. I believe that it goes against the sovereignty of the people and the economic, social, and international interests of France. So, along with our allies, we will now be able to provide a new voice, different from the one which dominates in the European union.

SS: When you look at the bigger picture, the eurosceptics are in the minority in the chamber and they aren’t even forming a bloc yet, there was no “global victory”. So why all this talk of a political earthquake?
 
MP: Believe me, we saw the faces of the people here in Brussels who saw us come pouring in, I think they believe that our presence will decidedly change the appearance of the European parliament and, evidently, of the debates that will take place in the parliament.

SS: How big is the problem of these “eurocommissioners” you want to get rid of? Has the sovereignty issue gotten so serious?
 
MP: Sovereignty is the foundation of democracy. Without sovereignty, there is no democracy, because having the freedom to cast a ballot in a ballot box is one thing, but if the people you elected with your ballot have no power because the actual power was transferred to a supranational body, then we are no longer in a democratic process. And this is exactly what we are currently going through. I think it was in 1957, in the National Assembly, Mendès France said that there are two ways to establish totalitarianism – either all of the powers are united together, or we transfer all the power to a supranational body. Well, that's exactly what they did by building the European Union – they transferred the sovereignty of the people to a supranational body that is not elected, that has no legitimacy and that imposes its will on the people. This is true for our territorial sovereignty – we are no longer in control of our immigration policy, since with Schengen all of our borders are open; this is true for our monetary sovereignty, since we are no longer in control of our currency; our budgetary sovereignty – it has just been transferred to the European Union, but also our legislative sovereignty, since currently 80% of the laws which are voted in the French National Assembly are actually a transcription of European directives. Well, I consider that France is a free country and that it should stay that way. And since we were robbed of all of our liberties, we should fight to get them back from the hands of those that stole them without our knowledge and against our will.

SS: Obviously you are not a big fan of the austerity policies that are in you view ruining Europe. But what else needs to be done to combat the debt crises?

MP: Surely not to do this, in any case. Because the austerity policies that have been implemented have shown not only their injustice but their futility, their inefficiency. The laboratory of these austerity policies is Greece. Just look at Greece : we sent the Greeks back to the Middle Ages, their youth unemployment rate is at 60%, 30% for the rest of the workforce, a drop in unemployment compensation, a drop in salaries, a drop in civil servant bonuses. They no longer have access to appropriate health care, suicide rates have doubled, and there's been a 50% increase in the infant mortality rate.. Is this progress? Is this what we were promised? This is a disgrace, it is scandalous! And moreover, it doesn't reduce deficit or debt. Greece's deficit and its debts are still increasing. This is why I say that the austerity policies are both inefficient in attaining their objectives, which is reducing deficit, but they are also profoundly unjust and almost inhumane when we look at the fact that in some hospitals in Greece, when women come to give birth, they given their baby only in exchange for a bill to pay for their delivery.


SS: Can Ukraine ever become an EU member? Do you think it should?
 
MP: Obviously not, obviously not! Once again – here, when the European Union promised to let Ukraine become part of it, it clearly contributed to the exacerbation of tensions within Ukraine. Ukraine will not become part of the European Union. We won't tell tales – Ukraine absolutely doesn't have the economic level to become part of the EU. And, once again, it is a long way down the list. I am opposed to any new expansion, so I say this with no judgement whatsoever. I feel friendship towards the Ukrainians, so I wouldn't invite my friends to the table of nightmares. I want to leave the European Union, so I can't invite them to join.

SS: Obama said the security of America’s European allies is sacrosanct, promising to boost U.S. military deployments and exercises around Europe. Does Europe need this kind of support?

MP: To defend ourselves against whom? [...] To defend ourselves against whom? Well, you know that we are for leaving NATO, for France leaving NATO, we have a Gaullian vision of what international politics must be like, we are for developing our relations with Russia, without breaking ties with the United States. We believe that France must maintain its relations with all of the world's great nations, and we do not want to be imposed with a way of seeing things by anybody. We aspire to have the freedom to determine the quality and the level of our international relations. But... to defend ourselves against whom? When we asked this question to a French politician, his answer was “China”. It almost makes you laugh. We can clearly see that, as a matter of fact, this is an opportunity for the United States to carry out military integration, and maybe tomorrow, economic integration, to extend the scope of its influence. The free-trade agreement that the United States want to sign at any price is really just another way to tie the European Union, in a quasi-definitive way, to the United States. This is, once again, a loss of independence, not to mention the catastrophic consequences that this free-trade agreement would have for us in terms of agriculture, industry, defence, etc. So this is much more a geopolitical treaty than a purely commercial or economic treaty.

For the full interview go to RT News.


Warning to American Readers
Americans please do not be frightened.  Below is what the rest of the world calls a free election with many different political parties for voters to choose from.  If you don't like what one party does you have many other choices.
.
Maybe we should try freedom in America.

Summary of the results of France's 25 May election to the European Parliament
← 2009 • 2014 • 2019 →
National partyEuropean partyEuropean groupVotes%+/–Seats+/–
National Front (FN)EAF (AEL)Non-Inscrits*4,712,46124.8618.52 Increase
24 / 74
21 Increase
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)EPP (PPE)EPP (PPE)3,943,81920.807.07 Decrease
20 / 74
7 Decrease
Socialist Party (PS) + Radical Party of the Left (PRG)
Socialist Party (PS)
Radical Party of the Left (PRG)
PES (PSE)S&D2,650,35713.982.5 Decrease
13 / 74
12 / 74
1 / 74

1 Decrease
1 Increase
Democratic Movement (MD) + Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI)
Radical Party (PR)
Centrist Alliance (AC)
New Centre (NC)

Democratic Movement (MD)
EDP (PDE)(MD)
EPP (PPE)(UDI)
ALDE (ADLE)1,884,5659.94[1]1.48 Increase
7 / 74
1 / 74
1 / 74
1 / 74


4 / 74

1 Increase
1 Increase
2 Decrease

2 Decrease
Europe Écologie (EE)EGP (PVE)G–EFA (V–ALE)1,696,4428.957.33 Decrease
6 / 74
9 Decrease
Left Front (FG)
Alliance of the Overseas (AO-M)
PEL (PGE)EUL/NGL (GUE/NGL)1,252,7306.610.13 Increase
4 / 74
1 / 74
1 / 74
1 / 74


1 / 74

2 Decrease
0 Steady
1 Increase

0 Steady
Arise the Republic (DLR)EUD*744,4413.822.05 Increase
0 / 74
0 Steady
New Deal (ND)None*549,7342.90new
0 / 74
0 Steady
We Citizens (NC)None*266,3431.41new
0 / 74
0 Steady
Workers' Struggle (LO)None*222,4911.170.03 Increase
0 / 74
0 Steady
Independent Ecological Alliance (AEI)None*211,7591.122.51 Decrease
0 / 74
0 Steady
Others840,6194.40
0 / 74
0 Steady
Valid votes18,955,63695.96
Blank and invalid votes797,5041.71
Totals19,753,140100.00
74 / 74
0 Steady
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout46,555,25342.431.71 Increase
Source: France-politique.fr and Ministry of the Interior

Opinion

European Parliament election, 2014 (France)

No comments: