Restoration of Empire

On the 13th of February 20001, EU Commission President told the EU Parliament;
"Are we all clear that we want to build something that can aspire to be a world power?"

Therefore we should be clear that the objective of the EU elite is to create a world power, a Federal superstate, a European Empire.

The Treaty of Nice is only another step towards its creation. They are very open and clear about the objective. The recently elected Foreign Minister of Germany has said that the EU should speak with one voice.

Jose Maria Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado, a former President of the European Parliament and current International President of the European Movement, one of the main groups in Ireland advocating a yes vote to Nice, told Irish journalists last week that the EU had to be prepared to defend itself.
"We need to be a military power to be a world power," he said. The EU should be able to bring itself up to the same level as the US. He believed that if the EU were to have an independent nuclear capacity the nuclear briefcase would have to come to the EU Commission.

Proinsias De Rossa together with other MEP's openly supporting Federalism signed a document where they stated: "We need an aggressive global stance, with economic and monetary power being buttressed by equally powerful diplomacy and a worldwide position supported by a military capacity".

Proinsias De Rossa and his friends envisage that the EU should seek equal stature with the US. The demand for a massive increase in military expenditure that arises if the Federalist, who are the most active supporters of the Nice Treaty win, is clear and obvious.

The Nice Treaty ensures that for the first time the EU takes direct responsibility for military affairs. The Treaty institutionalizes and provides a legal basis for the Political and Security Committee that will control and direct EU military operations. The EU is creating a European Rapid Reaction Force of 60,000 soldiers, which can be deployed up to 2,500 miles from the borders of the EU. The various forces being put at the disposal of the ERRF by the states of the EU can see the size and nature of this army and applicant states as can be seen from the following examples,

Britain: 12,500 troops, NBC Units, 18 warships - including one aircraft carrier and two nuclear powered submarines - 72 combat aircraft - cruise missiles and apache helicopters.
France: 12,000 troops, an aircraft carrier group, one nuclear powered submarine, 75 combat aircraft and assorted support, including satellite facilities.
Germany: 18,000 troops, six squadrons of combat aircraft, signal intelligence, 13 combat ships.
Greece: 6,500 troops, one attack Helicopter Company, eight warships, 42 fighter aircraft, one battalion of Patriot missiles
Italy: 12,500 troops including Special Forces, one aircraft carrier, one destroyer and three frigates, 26 tornado combat aircraft and electronic warfare capability including jamming systems and radio-gonicometers.
Portugal: 4,000 troops one frigates, one submarine, one F-16 squadron with 12 aircraft.

All other states of the EU and applicant states including Turkey, with the exception of Denmark, are also providing military forces.

It is blindingly obvious that this is not the Red Cross. It is an army equipped and intended for war. Peacemaking is just another word for warmaking.

PANA believes that the states of Europe that lost their Empires in the last century, Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugal and Italy are now, by combining their military might, seek to restore their global military dominance. The Irish political elite seeks to restore the Redmondite tradition of Home Rule within the Empire, except this time, it's the European rather than British.

The President of the EU Commission put it bluntly when advocating the vision of creating a world power by asking (29/5/01); "Whether citizens of EU member states would be prepared to die for common EU objectives?"

The reality of this objective is clear to the Danes, who voted NO on two occasions, and why Denmark has a legally binding Protocol, which excludes them from paying for, or involvement with the European Rapid Reaction Force. They, like the Irish were threatened and bullied by their elite. They were told in 1992 that unemployment would increase by 150,000 if the voted NO. They did, and the have had the best era of economic development in 30 years. In 2000 they were told that there would be an economic disaster, high interest rates, declining investment and rising unemployment if the voted NO to the Euro. They did, and the opposite happened.

Even the Irish Times, the newspaper of the Progressive Democrats at prayer wrote; "The Danish government, backed by all the major political parties, forecasted dire economic consequences for the country if the voted against the new currency. Two years on and economic meltdown has not materalised." IT 10/10/02

Therefore, all the threats and bullyboy tactics by the Irish elite should be treated with the contempt they deserves. If a Protocol is good enough for the Danes it should be good enough for us.

The government has allocated 850 soldiers to the ERRF- the European Army. This is the same number that was previously allocated to serve directly under the auspices of the United Nations, a role that is all but terminated. In future, if the government have their way, our Army will be a regiment of the Army of the European Union.

They will have to achieve interoperability with the other regiments, so we can expect an increasing demand for military expenditure for more advanced military equipment, which means less money for health, education and social welfare.

The Seville Declaration, has no legal status, and does not change the Treaty in any way whatsoever. It is a meaningless piece of paper.

It is utterly unbelievable that the government expects to be taken seriously when they say our neutrality is not under threat when Shannon Airport is now in effect a US military airforce base, and is being used to transport troops to the Middle East where they will go to war against Iraq without a UN mandate.

The additional part of the Constitutional Amendment, which does not effect the Nice Treaty, at least puts into legal form, the requirement to hold a referendum before Ireland joins an EU mutual defence pact, which up to know had only been a political promise. It is however not a positive commitment to non membership of a military alliance It is in fact, more of a declaration of intent since the current representatives of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour already either openly support a mutual defence pact or refuse to rule it out in the future. Futhermore, it does not prevent Ireland from joining the nuclear armed military alliance NATO. A very real possibility since we are already in Nato's PfP, a sort of FAS training course for NATO membership.

PANA believes that Ireland is an Independent Democratic Republic. While part of it remains under the control of a state in NATO, we look forward to the day that all of the country is a single Independent Democratic Republic, and all of our country not part of a military alliance.

The Irish people voted in a free, fair and democratic referendum to reject the Nice Treaty. Now the government and their allies are forcing the Irish people to vote again on exactly the same Treaty.

The hope by using bully-boy tactics and massive amounts of money to intimidate the people into reverse their original democratic decision. If they are to be defeated then all the forces that believe in Irish Independence, Irish Democracy, and Irish Neutrality need to continue to campaign actively up to the 19th
PANA believes in a democratic Europe. A Europe of Independent, Democratic States, Legal Equals with no military dimension whatsoever.

PANA believes a reformed and renewed United Nations, as the only inclusive global organization committed to collective security and human rights is the alternative to crating a new European Empire. If inclusive negotiation and dialogue is the fundamental basis of the Irish Peace Process, than inclusive negotiation and dialogue is the only way for global peace. Ireland as an Independent, Democratic Irish Republic with a commitment to maintain, and revive its anti-imperialist tradition, its links with the democratic traditions in the US, the states of the EU and others throughout the world has a role to play in the pursuit of peace not in Ireland but throughout the world.

Finally, on a personal note, I was born in Dublin. My father was born in Belfast, and my mother was born in Portugal. As an Irishman, son of an immigrant I am asking you to vote No. I was brought up a Republican, as someone who was expected to believe in equality and justice. As someone who sought to build an inclusive society, to unite Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter, Jew, Muslim and atheist in common loyalty to Ireland. Vote No so we can build a Democratic Irish Republic, a Democratic Europe.

Roger Cole (Chair)
Peace & Neutrality Alliance.

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