The Democracy Movement: Vision Europe campaign > moving beyond the outdated European Union (EU)



Where am I? home > vision europe mini-site
Vision Europe: moving beyond the out-dated European Union 11 July 2005: last updated 25 March 2007 Vision Europe puts forward a constructive alternative to going further in the out-dated direction of centralisation. INTRODUCTION The EU is over-centralised and out of date - the product of 'big is best', top down elitist thinking stuck in the 1950s. The recent referendum results in France and Holland have shown that its 'one-size-fits-all' model, whereby laws are made in Brussels and then imposed on 25 diverse countries regardless of what their voters want or don't want, is clearly no longer viable. The French and Dutch peoples voted 'no' overwhelmingly to the EU Constitution and the idea that more and more law-making powers should be concentrated in the hands of officials they cannot democratically remove from office. The EU also faces big economic problems. It is a declining part of the World. At present it accounts for 18% of global GDP. This is expected to go down to 10% by 2050 (Eurostats, European Commission, 2002). Unemployment is currently 10% or more in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. There is also a demographic problem: it is estimated that by 2050 there will be 27 million fewer workers and 30-40 million more pensioners in the EU (World Population Prospects, United Nations, 2004). There are now major questions being asked about the long-term viability of the single currency and its 'one-size-fits-all' interest rate. Yet there is no consensus between the individual member states about how to respond to these and other challenges such as globalisation. Any attempt to impose a common response, whether liberal or social democratic, free-trading or protectionist - will only create internal conflict. The EU's current crisis presents Europeans with an opportunity to build a more realistic, bottom-up way of interacting that enables co-operation but also respects Europe's diversity. The DM's new campaign puts forward a constructive alternative: Dismantle & replace the EU with a new, flexible, voluntary form of co-operation called the Europe of Democracies. Decentralise powers from Brussels back to elected national parliaments whose laws will resume legal precendence. *Facilitate trade between countries within Europe and* across the world. Develop an internationalist outlook. Re-distribute billions of pounds from the fraud-ridden Brussels budget to the peoples of Europe.** Read more on each of these points by downloading or ordering a free copy of our Vision Europe leaflet - see how below. "New ideas are coming from all quarters of the political spectrum...these are alternatives to the one that simply compounds the worst features of the inter-governmental and community methods that currently dominate the EU" Gisela Stuart MP (Labour) speech to the Bruges Group, May 2004 "The European intellectual space should not be occupied by topics relevant for EU politicians and bureaucrats only... we need a new Europe without supranational, all-continental ambition" Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic speech to the Bruges Group, October 2004 READ MORE: *New lapel badge symbolises Vision* for change on EU's 50th anniversary** 25th March 2007 As EU elites gather to remember fifty past years of the EU, the DM is thinking of the future by launching a new lapel badge for supporters to display. Shaped in a "V" for Vision Europe and embossed with the address of a new international Vision Europe website to be launched next week, the gold-coloured metal badge is a positive new symbol for all those who have a vision for an alternative to today's EU. Whether that's for the return of specific powers from the EU, for a bigger change in Britain's relationship with the EU, or for the EU to be replaced altogether - 'V' unites all those who want to see more fundamental change, and certainly the EU given no new powers. To order your badge, send a cheque for £2 payable to the Democracy Movement to the address at the bottom of this page. Or click here to order online from our merchandise shop. 'Democracy Declaration' calls for EU to be dismantled 25th March 2007 Having treated themselves to a gala concert and grand dinner yesterday, Europe's leaders will today endorse the Berlin Declaration acclaiming the EU's 'achievements'. The Declaration is designed to kick-start the revival of the rejected EU Constitution - or the creation of a 'mini treaty' of some of the Constitution's contents, aimed at avoiding giving people a chance to say 'No' again. In endorsing this Declaration, politicians will claim to be speaking on behalf of Europe's peoples. Yet new poll evidence shows 41% think the EU should have less power, and that 75% want a referendum on any new treaty. So the DM has published an alternative. With a few changes, we've turned the 'Berlin Declaration' into the 'Democracy Declaration' - the statement that would have been endorsed, had Europe's leaders been truly interested in Europe's needs in the 21st century, rather than clinging to their 1950s-designed superstate project. Click here to read our Democracy Declaration or click here to read the Berlin version DM featured on BBC2 Newsnight 23rd March 2007 DM campaign director Marc Glendening has taken part in a BBC Newsnight feature on the European Union. The feature examined a new poll on the EU's powers, conducted for EU-critical think-tank Open Europe. The poll shows 41% of people across Europe think the EU should have less power that it has currently, with that figure growing to 58% among people in this country. Even more critically for current efforts to revive the EU Constitution, 75% of people across Europe said that they want a referendum on any new treaty which gives more powers to the EU. The programme then pitched 'arch-federalist' Mark Littlewood in debate against the DM's Marc Glendening. Each first presented a short film of their views, and then debated in the studio and answered questions e-mailed in by viewers. DM challenges Margot Wallstr�m in Swedish newspaper 29th January 2007 In co-operation with EU-critical colleagues in Sweden, DM campaign director Marc Glendening has this week had an article published in the Stockholm newspaper Stockholms Fria. The article is a new initiative in the DM's challenge to Swedish EU Commissioner for 'communications strategy' Margot Wallstr�m to take part in a genuine and fair public debate on the EU's future. The DM first issued the challenge in July 2005, calling Ms.Wallstr�m on her rhetorical enthusiasm for a 'Plan D for democracy, dialogue and debate' after the rejection of the EU Constitution. Ms.Wallstr�m claimed that she wanted to engage EU-critics face-to-face. However, despite being offered a fair opportunity, including nominating someone of her choice to chair the debate - and despite our efforts to pursue the challenge by posting comments on her blog - Ms.Wallstr�m has proved unwilling to follow her words with actions. Will she yet have the courage to accept the challenge and put her organisation's vision in the contested situation of a genuine debate? Or just continue making unopposed speeches in front of friendly audiences? Read the article here (in Swedish) DM letter in The Times 29th March 2006 The DM has a letter in The Times today, responding to an earlier letter from a group of MEPs and promoting the themes of our Vision Europe campaign. The letter begins... "Sir, There is nothing pro-European, unabashed or otherwise, about the MEPs Christopher Beazley, Richard Corbett and Andrew Duff. They decry "narrow nationalism" but their out-dated vision for the future of Europe is merely economic and political nationalism on a pan-European, far more unaccountable, scale. What exactly is pro-European about... " Click here to read the letter in full (under the letter from Roland Rudd about the latest incarnation of pro-EU group Britain in Europe) Post-Modernism & the Silent Revolution by Marc Glendening, DM Campaign Director published in the European Journal: November / December 2005 In the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dominant view in the West was that liberal democracy had won a decisive, final victory. According to Francis Fukuyama we were experiencing the 'end of history'. No illiberal ideology, including militant Islam, he argued, would from now on be capable of seriously threatening representative government.(1) This view should now be viewed as dangerously complacent. We are experiencing the emergence of what can be described as Post-Modern Authoritarianism (PMA)....European political integration is a major component of this process, but PMA goes considerably beyond it..." Click *here* to read the full article Europe needs a re-enlightenment by Marc Glendening, DM Campaign Director published in The EuroRealist: September 2005 "The floodgates of democracy have truly burst open. The stunning victories for democracy that were recorded in the recent French and Dutch referenda on the European Constitution will lead - whether the political elite likes it or not � to a major re-examination of the purpose and desirability of the EU in its entirety. "The Enlightenment gave rise to democracy and to national diversity. Those of us fighting EU colonialism, I want to argue, are part of this noble, broadly liberal tradition in European thought..." Click *here* to read the full article Lessons of the French & Dutch referendum victories by Marc Glendening, DM Campaign Director published in Freedom Today: May/June 2005 "There are many honourable advocates of greater European political integration, but Denis MacShane isn't one of them. Britain's sacked former Europe minister epitomises the worst characteristics of the Pan-European political elite: arrogant and disingenuous. "The outbreak of people power across our continent is a hugely symbolic, as well as political, defeat for the neo-feudalist system of government that MacShane and his political insider tribe have been trying to impose upon ordinary Europeans..." Click *here* to read the full article

		All Rights Reserved. © Democracy Movement 2005-07