[A-List] British takeover of Europe: Brussels strikes back

[Sabri Oncu <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I found this from the below article interesting:

> Belgium was alone in supporting an EU-wide tax last
> year. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown
> led opposition to the idea, saying one of his predecessors
> lost his head and Britain lost its American colonies in
> tax revolts.

This is also worth paying special attention to:

> In recommendations to a constitutional convention that
> will overhaul the way the EU works by 2004, Prodi challenged
> the EU's bigger countries to hand over more economic and
> foreign-policy power to the un-elected Brussels-based
> commission.

It would be nice to hear comments from our European friends on
these developments. Maybe Arno can share with us his views?

Best,

Sabri

P.S: By the way, I used the thread name Michael started for
continuity but I am not sure if it is the best choice.


+++++++


EU's Prodi Urges Central Tax Power, Opposes Big-State Dominance
By James G. Neuger

Brussels, May 22 (Bloomberg) -- The European Commission called
for central tax-setting powers in Europe, seeking to wrest
economic clout away from countries such as Germany, Britain and
France.

Reviving an idea that most governments rejected last year, the
commission's president, Romano Prodi, said the 15-nation EU
should raise taxes directly to finance its 98 billion euro ($91
billion) budget.

The current system of national payments "obscures the necessary
link between citizens' taxes and the EU budget," Prodi said. The
European Parliament and governments need "the power to impose a
tax policy."

Belgium was alone in supporting an EU-wide tax last year. U.K.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown led opposition to the
idea, saying one of his predecessors lost his head and Britain
lost its American colonies in tax revolts.

In recommendations to a constitutional convention that will
overhaul the way the EU works by 2004, Prodi challenged the EU's
bigger countries to hand over more economic and foreign-policy
power to the un-elected Brussels-based commission.

In managing the economy, Europe needs "a mediator who applies a
coherent, impartial approach and has all the instruments needed
to play an effective guiding role," Prodi told the European
Parliament.

Previous efforts to steer national budgets from Brussels have run
into resistance, with Germany and Portugal this year shooting
down a commission plan to reprimand them for pushing their budget
deficits close to the EU's limit.

European Voice

Foreign and security policy "should be progressively merged
within the commission," said Prodi, a former Italian prime
minister. Europe needs a "single voice" on matters of war and
peace to be a "credible" partner of the U.S., he said.

Prodi picked up support from Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen of
Finland, a country of 5 million people which joined the EU in
1995. Lipponen opposed what he called moves to establish "a
directorate of big countries."

Lipponen lashed out against a proposal for a new post of EU
president that he said would undermine the commission, which
manages the bloc's common market and budget.

Spain and Britain this week proposed elevating a former national
leader to a new post of EU council president -- giving
governments a spokesman to counter the independent commission.

Demote Commission

"We really need to think very carefully before going into that,"
Lipponen told a news conference. "And if the idea is at the same
time to demote the commission and its president, this would be
very hard to swallow."

Countries as small as Luxembourg, with 400,000 inhabitants, are
seeking to maintain their influence as the EU gets set to expand
to Eastern Europe. Big countries say they need more power to
prevent the bloc from becoming ungovernable.

The tension between large and small states, and between the
commission and national governments, goes back to the EU's
founding in 1958. It is flaring up again as the EU holds a
constitutional convention to overhaul its treaties by 2004.

The constitutional debate comes as confidence in the EU sags.
Fifty-four percent of the people regard membership as a "good
thing," down from a peak of over 70 percent in 1990, EU polls
show.

The convention will propose amendments to the EU's governing
treaties next year. National leaders will make the final
decisions in 2004.