EU’s own Black Hawk Down
Editor's Note:Martin Jay is a freelance journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.
Both Brexit and the EU's all-time lowest growth in the EUrozone are driving leaders of the EU project into panic mode.
This was particularly evident in the infamous anti Brexit speech given by Macron recently which aimed to ridicule the British, yet the irony of this coming from a leader of a country which founded the EU and which has the highest unemployment figures coupled with the lowest growth, was not lost on journalists both side of the English Channel.
In fact, Macron's anti-Brexit pro-EU mega speeches are forming the backbone now of Brexit in the UK as British media use them tomockand ridicule the EU project.
Macron's ludicrous rants are actually putting more wind in the sails of the Brexit process.
His latest poorly timed ejaculation came in the form of a letter directed at the EU itself which it implores to reform, as the French leader knows only too well that the future of the EU – and indeed its idealistic, foolish Federalist role – is on shaky grounds post EU elections in May expected to install populist parties in the EUropean Parliament from France, Italy, the Czech Republic and others.
EU's idea of ‘reform'?
His latest letter to 27 EU leaders though smacks of desperation and confusion. Macron is a staunch supporter of the EU and has shown that he is prepared to support its lofty ambitions to plow ahead with its dreams of being a world superpower – despite these very notions being the reason why Brexit came about in the first place.
Emmanuel Macron, France's President, listens during a news conference at the EUropean Union (EU) leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 22, 2017. /VCG Photo
The EU can't ‘reform' in the way voters would like, which is to clean up its corruption problem and become more accountable to EUropeans.
In 1999 a reform plan fooled its citizens as it gave Neil Kinnock the job of cleaning up the EU – which in reality meant destroying all whistleblowers and having journalists arrested, rather than nailing corruption which brought the EU to resign under a cloud of corruption charges in the first place.
Rather, when people like Macron talk of ‘reform', in EU speak, this means ‘take much more power while you can'.
In hislettercalled “roadmap to EUropean renewal”, he proposed a range of proposals for change including tougher joint action on internet hate speech, the supervision of internet giants, new competition rules (presumably to slacken tough state aid rules so that France can bail out its ailing industries), a minimum EUropean wage and a new defense treaty.
And it's this last one which is the most worrying. In recent months, there have been a number of moves to ramp up the EU's foreign policy ambitions, to take a number of preposterous ideas off the paper and into action.
The EU's default answer to a political crisis is to take even more power. Yet EU federalists in Brussels believe this is to be more a realistic venture outside of the EUropean Union borders in neighboring countries rather than actually at home.
It's not just about having an EU army to beef up its PR campaign, it's also about having policies and agreements in place with countries which are expected to play a supporting role.
Flags of the EUropean Union at a "March for EUrope" gathering to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2017. /VCG Photo
And where better to start with the Arab world where the EU is humored with its fantasy of having superpower leverage? A recent EU-Arab League meeting, the first of its kind, held in Egypt kick-started a process of greater dialogue and cooperation which in theory could be a win-win for the EU in key areas: intelligence sharing and public relations.
German leaders told EUropean reporters that it was time to exert more power in the region while their Dutch counterparts said sometimes you have to “dance with whoever is on the dance floor”.
EU to sink to the bottom
Old hands in Brussels though, in smoked filled drinking holes, have another expression for the situation. Skeptics worry that if the EU loses its momentum, it will be like a shark which no longer propels itself, and therefore perishes.
This is the panic of the EU Momentum. And this is why we are seeing last-minute hysteria before the EU elections about working with Arab countries, who, in reality, only see the EU as an organization which puts chairs to tables and water bottles in their places – unless those same countries are getting special treatment in arms procurement and help in their ownintelligencework, to suppress their own people like Egypt.
A more skeptical look at the recent move for intelligence sharing, would be to see it from the viewpoint of EU arms makers who are relieved to see that the EU has no lofty ideas about using atrocious human rights abuse in Egypt, for example (which has 60,000 political prisoners) as a hurdle for EUropean companies to sell to Sisi their latest weapons.
France and the UK are doing good business with Sisi's government. For the moment though no western journalists are joining up the dots and seeing the link between selling arms and spying technology to these countries to be used against their own political activists, while terrorists will use attacks on EUropean soil, to attack their own despots.
Is that why the EU needs intelligence sharing in the first place? Is ramped up defense procurement with some of the worst human rights abusers in the world the reason why the intelligence sharing idea is being rushed through? And an EU army idea also part of that, to police EUrope's borders and even go the full nine yards and use EU soldiers to help despots in ‘peacekeeping'?
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