Posted on 06/08/2009 11:56:40 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
European Parliament's centre-right grouping has declared war on David Cameron and said a new Conservative government must not be allowed to derail the Lisbon Treaty.
The Tory leader has angered the European People's Party (EPP) after pulling out of the grouping to form a new Eurosceptic bloc called the European Conservatives and Reformists.
Mr Cameron's pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon European Union Treaty, if it remains unratified by the Irish by the time of a British general election, has also alarmed the Brussels establishment as Labour goes into political meltdown.
Joseph Daul, the chairman of EEP, the MEP for Strasbourg and a close ally of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, has said the European Parliament's number one priority must be defeating Conservative opposition to the Lisbon Treaty.
"Even though the Conservatives have left, we will work to make sure the Lisbon Treaty comes into force at the end of the year. We regret all demagoguery and populism. We will do this even if David Cameron threatens a referendum," he said.
Wilfred Martens, the EPP president and former Belgian prime minister, implied that other EU governments are pressuring Gordon Brown to hold off an early election, before a second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in October.
"It could be rather awkward if we had a snap election in Britain with a referendum as one of the issues," he said. "The political situation in the UK is therefore extremely important. We want to see political stability or we have the danger of opening up a debate that could jeopardise the Lisbon Treaty."
Mark Francois, the Conservative spokesman on Europe, hit back at Mr Daul.
"The EPP are entitled to their view, but so are the British people," he said. "It is because they were promised a referendum by
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
You’d imagine that “Conservatives” from 20+ countries won’t be one and the same thing.
I guess that the “Lisbon Treaty” will prevail regardless of the citizens response (hey, they know not what they do) - not a surprise.
yitbos
Heh...Like I said... They know not what they do...
What Europe (especially the media) defines as “Conservative” or “Center-Right” is scarcely what we’d call it in the US. A lot of it is just leftism with a slightly different spin.
So are they just going to keep having these referendums til they get the vote they want?
The Australian Republican movement do. Why not?
Just in Ireland. They're holding out for more euros.
yitbos
By YOUR standards yes. Europe is not a homogenous whole. Each nation has a separate culture, history, tradition - each has arrived at “conservatism” at this point of time by decidedly tortous routes. Conservatism in Britain, for example, has marked class overtones. In Poland its very socially conservative; in Germany and Austria a very christian background.
Heh...hoping you’re right!
“Conservatism” in Europe is definitely not the same thing as “conservatism” in the US. Pretty much every party in Europe regards statism in some form or another as a given, the basis upon which everything else is built. By American standards, they’re all varieties of leftism. American conservatism is predicated on limited government, federalism, and the ascendancy of individual rights. There really isn’t any noticeable equivalent to our conservatism in Europe anywhere. That’s why saying “on the right” means something very different here than it does there.
When the media defines Italian Fascism and German Naziism as “right wing” or “Conservative”, that’s where the definitions are decidedly screwed up. There is very little equivalent to American right wing/Conservatism, that being personal liberty, small government, low taxes, etc. I’ve said many times that Europe could use a REAL right wing, not another facet of leftism that the media terms “right wing”, which is anything but.
Exactly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.