Comments on: Tories in the EP favouring symbolism over influence

By: mathew

mathew — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:44:29 +0000

“The same can be said of numerous other places.”

Trooper, you’re in denial. Only Westminster has more influence over British law than the EU. What other places did you have in mind? The UN? The Commonwealth?

The question is not whether you like that state of affairs – the question is whether Cameron is being responsible in reducing his party’s influence in such an important body. Is this really what his voters want?

By: Trooper Thompson

Trooper Thompson — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:02:54 +0000

“Felt identified by the ‘eurosceptic fanatics’ bit did you?”

No, cos I’m not eurosceptic or tory.

“The point is that whether you like it or not important decisions are taken in that place….”

The same can be said of numerous other places.

By: Chris P

Chris P — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:48:36 +0000

Trooper Thomson – Felt identified by the ‘eurosceptic fanatics’ bit did you?

It’s not about believing in or not believing (not talking about Santa here). That is a debate for another time perhaps. The point is that whether you like it or not important decisions are taken in that place…..

By: Trooper Thompson

Trooper Thompson — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:39:06 +0000

Chris P,

“caving in to the eurosceptic fanatics in his party”

Most ordinary people are, at the very least, ‘eurosceptic’. People like you, who believe in the laughable European Parliament, are in a tiny minority. Perhaps you are the real fanatics.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 12:50:55 +0000

In response to eurocentric yes the British interest is represented in the Council – but of course it can be helped along and advanced by British MEPs in the European Parliament so therefore if those MEPs (be they Tory, Labour or even Lib Dem) lose influence then that naturally weakens things. Of course on many (if not most) issues it is not a case of there being a defined national interest and division occurs along left -right lines but there are some important issues where a national interest can be defined. I just wonder if left alone the H block will take over and Tories will end up like UKIP, voting against or abstaining on nearly everything and not being taken seriously.

By: Eurocentric

Eurocentric — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:37:29 +0000

The British national interest is represented in the Council, so I don’t really think this will damage British national interest.* Or is the EPP-ED a vital component of British European policy? If the Tories and the EPP vote the same way most of the time anyway, then I doubt that the center right as a political force in the EP will be damaged too much by this; it will be just the Tories who loose influence and networking opportunities. Besides committee concerns, the Tories will be removed from the traditional Grand Coalition in the EP. If a party can’t influence the stance of the big 2 (perhaps the big 3 in some circumstances), then it becomes harder to influence the EP consensus.

It will damage the interests of Tory voters if the Tories can’t form a group, or voters generally who would like to vote for a party who will represent them effectively in the center right of the EP.

*Actually, this could be true, if you count the ability for governing (and possibly future governing) parties to network. This is important for (Irish opposition party) Fine Gael, who got to host an EPP meeting in Ireland last year – meaning that Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny got equal (or more) access to Angela Merkel, etc than Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

By: Ralf Grahn

Ralf Grahn — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:12:22 +0000

Good post, but isn’t it a question of Tories in London favouring symbolism ofer those in the European Parliament (largely)?

By: Central Scrutiniser

Central Scrutiniser — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:19:34 +0000

How much does Labour care about influence in Brussels? The main message in their Euro Election Campaign is still a mystery to me. I think they care about winning more seats than the Tories and the LibDems but that’s about it as far as I can see. I wish I was wrong about this.