[lbo-talk] European Union (was Conservatism)

[Wojtek S]

You are missing my point, James.  I am not arguing that EU is perfect but
that it is better than the absence of it.  To use an analogy:  someone owes
me $1,000 and a collection agency offers to collect this debt for a fee of
$500. I would go with the collection agency not because I like them, but
because by going with them I would get at least some of the money whereas I
would get nothing by rejecting their services.

This is called 'lesser evil' on this side of the pond - which means less
evil, a good thing albeit certainly not a paradise.

Wojtek

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 1:39 PM, James Heartfield <
Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:


> "You are missing an important point - the sickening nationalism of European
> nation states.  EU offers a healthy internationalist antidote to this
> national;ism and that is why it is so hated by the right and insular
> Brits."
>
> It is true that the European Commission, and to some extent the European
> Council are at odds with popular nationalism. But what they dislike about
> nationalism is the popular aspect. They are not 'internationalist' at all,
> but European chauvinists. That is why they slammed the door in the East
> European accession countries face for ten years, and then only allowed them
> to enter on degrading terms, and it is why they continue to treat the Turks
> like pariahs.
>
> As was pointed out, under the Dublin Convention of June 1990, and then
> subsequently under the Maastricht Treaty European Union member states have
> coordinated their immigration policy to create a 'Fortress Europe' against
> illegal immigration (Webber, 1993: 147). Thousands of refugees held in camps
> at Sangatte, Calais (closed in 2007), the Campsfield detention centre at
> Kidlington, and Italy's aggressive coast guard actions against North African
> migrants all show the limits of European openness. On 21 May 2007 the
> Council of the European Union's Future Group presented a paper warning that
> 'Europe will increasingly become a region of destination for worldwide
> illegal immigration, organised crime and international drug-trifficking and
> a target of terrorist attacks'. The paper welcomed 'the development of a
> common European Security Strategy which is aimed, in particular at forming a
> "ring of responsibly governed countries from the EU's eastern borders to the
> Mediterranean (adopte!
>  d by the European Council in December 2006).' (in Bunyan, 2009: 13)
>
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