Blair to be named EU President 'within weeks'

[questionmark]

Errr, as far as I can tell, the EU President IS elected.

So, is this guy not considered the current president of the EU? I don't know much about European politics, but he seems to be so and he was elected.

You are basically correct, he is not "selected", but he is not directly elected either.

The correct way would be that the European Council (consisting of all heads of state of member countries) would name somebody that the Commission would have to propose to parliament for approval. The parliament is elected.

So far the theory, in practice European elections are some kind of Ersatz-National-Plebiscite, used by the voters not to elect their representatives but to chastise their own governments. In fact, every radical that would not get near a parliament seat in his own country has a representative there.

[Benz]

never even heard anything about this on our news

how long till the vote is counted or w/e they do?

gonna be pretty wierd hearing The President Of Europe for awhile

would the EU pres have the same power as say obama?

[Cadetak]

Am I the only American here that doesn't have the slightest clue as to what the hell is going on?

Our news either sucks that bad or I need to watch more of it(likely both)...everybody has just bin talking about the Olympics today.

Looks like I have homework to do.

[questionmark]

never even heard anything about this on our news

how long till the vote is counted or w/e they do?

gonna be pretty wierd hearing The President Of Europe for awhile

would the EU pres have the same power as say obama?

First, you would not hear anything because so far it is speculation on who, and if there, will be a Prezz of the EU.

The Irish referendum is being counted at this moment, we should know by tonight how they voted.

And no, at least for the beginning the Prezz of the EU will be a more representative position, like the German Prezz or the Spanish King.

[stevewinn]

This was after the first Irish NO vote.

and so yesterday the Irish were made to vote again. and will be made to vote again if they reach a NO vote for the second time on the trot.

BUT it seems early indication are the Irish have voted YES, this time round,

[questionmark]

BUT it seems early indication are the Irish have voted YES, this time round,

Maybe because this time they actually voted on the treaty of Lisbon instead of on abortion or neutrality or on p***ing off their government?

If the consensus would have been that the Irish made an informed decision on Lisbon, instead of on all kind of national issues they were not asked to vote on, those countries who have ratified would just continue on their path leaving Ireland (and whoever else does not want to continue) behind. In fact that is what they announced and that made the Irish government go for a second vote, making it clear that it is ONLY about the EU, nothing else.

[stevewinn]

Maybe because this time they actually voted on the treaty of Lisbon instead of on abortion or neutrality or on p***ing off their government?

If the consensus would have been that the Irish made an informed decision on Lisbon, instead of on all kind of national issues they were not asked to vote on, those countries who have ratified would just continue on their path leaving Ireland (and whoever else does not want to continue) behind. In fact that is what they announced and that made the Irish government go for a second vote, making it clear that it is ONLY about the EU, nothing else.

plus the little issue of spending millions on advertising for a YES vote, EU propaganda €20 million worth was the figure i seen on the Euro news.

Noticed how the EU used Ireland's economic crisis to its advantage. You Vote yes and the EU will provide you with a economic lifeline, Vote NO and the country will fall into bankruptcy. Its akin to holding a gun to the Irish head, giving them an ultimatum. so faced with such a situation of bankruptcy and the lose of jobs. which way do you think the people where going to vote?

Well, all are hopes now rest upon the Czech government.

[questionmark]

Well, all are hopes now rest upon the Czech government.

The Czech constitutional court, the government has already signed.

And it will end up like in Germany, there where the treaty of Lisbon was contradicting the constitution, as shown by the constitutional court, the constitution was amended.

You might not like it, but everybody knowing what is going on and how the world is changing knows that no individual European country has a chance to be heard in the world. The only option left is to bunch up. And most European countries will do that, regardless of who comes in or who gets out.

[Bill Hill]

Oh no, they voted yes?

[questionmark]

Oh no, they voted yes?

Early returns show about 65% yes and 35% no... but we won't know for sure until tonight.

[Bill Hill]

You might not like it, but everybody knowing what is going on and how the world is changing knows that no individual European country has a chance to be heard in the world. The only option left is to bunch up.

Oh what the hell..

Ja, forward Das UBER einene zweine SUPER STATE....

[questionmark]

in related news:

Ireland is set to accept the EU’s Lisbon treaty, with opinion and exit polls showing a convincing win for the “Yes” vote.

Counting is still underway but Irish ministers are already heralding victory, while anti-EU campaigners have conceded defeat.

Ireland was seen as the last hurdle in ratifying the Lisbon treaty, which will introduce a raft of new ‘streamlining’ measures and an EU presidency.

Just eighteen months ago the country voted against the treaty in the first referendum, but yesterday’s poll saw a far higher turn-out with over 50% of the country voting.

Full story, source: The Times

Edited October 3, 2009 by questionmark

[stevewinn]

The Czech constitutional court, the government has already signed.And it will end up like in Germany, there where the treaty of Lisbon was contradicting the constitution, as shown by the constitutional court, the constitution was amended.

You might not like it, but everybody knowing what is going on and how the world is changing knows that no individual European country has a chance to be heard in the world. The only option left is to bunch up. And most European countries will do that, regardless of who comes in or who gets out.

I hate this idea of all huddling together in some vain attempt at being a power on the world stage.

Oh what the hell..Ja, forward Das UBER einene zweine SUPER STATE....

you've been taking lessons.

[questionmark]

I hate this idea of all huddling together in some vain attempt at being a power on the world stage.

Better than sitting back until your country has the political influense of Lichtenstein and the economical power of Burkina Faso.

[Mbyte]

why not?

The people of europe never got to vote. The governments ratified the treaty for them. The news is that it's about 68% yes.... We didn't get a no vote this time. I would like to apologise for our failure to see the blatant lack of democracy this treaty brought and how we stupidly followed the fear tactics which brought a yes vote. Now that we voted yes we were told that their was a priminister over the chec republic that would not sign off on the treaty until Ireland had voted. The priminister went against his government. Hopefully that minister will over through the government and cause a referendum for the people.

There was a lot of fear tactics used. Mainly the voting yes would bring about economy recovery. We can have a great economy if we are made slaves so if the people want a good economy they can have it.

[questionmark]

There was a lot of fear tactics used. Mainly the voting yes would bring about economy recovery. We can have a great economy if we are made slaves so if the people want a good economy they can have it.

Isn't that just a little bit hypocritical?

No country in the Union has benefited more from it than Ireland.

And if you want to vote I suggest to fight for that instead of the only possibility of the Irish staying in Ireland instead of emigrating all over the world.

[Mbyte]

Isn't that just a little bit hypocritical?

No country in the Union has benefited more from it than Ireland.

And if you want to vote I suggest to fight for that instead of the only possibility of the Irish staying in Ireland instead of emigrating all over the world.

A democracy that doesn't allow the EU citizens to vote and while Ireland gets to Vote twice is hypocritical. We had a economic boom over here but I believe that booms are just sessions where lots of money is waisted; which it was. Our roads are in bits. To compare our roads to England's they are terrible. If you compare the infrastructure to Europeans we are in the stone age. Any Irish man who drives across Europe notices this. Our government are trying to close down regional hospitals and setup massive hospitals to cater for an entire region. Of course they are closing down the hospitals first before building these massive hospitals. At the moment the hospital closes a 8 o'clock it was suppose to be 5 o'clock but protest changed that. Our water system is also contaminated. The entire countries water is not drinkable. and the list goes on.

I'm not sure what your trying to say with your last sentence but Irish people can go where ever they want. We didn't have to fight for this Lisbon vote but I suppose we fought for it when we were in civil war. They're are lots of polish people in Ireland. We are not the only ones that go across the world. Anyway it's fact that many nations derived from other nations. If you look at your family history you might have a great great grand mother from hawaii. You'd be surprised who made you. People everywhere have been emigrating from everywhere for a long time.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Mbyte

[questionmark]

A democracy that doesn't allow the EU citizens to vote and while Ireland gets to Vote twice is hypocritical. We had a economic boom over here but I believe that booms are just sessions where lots of money is waisted; which it was. Our roads are in bits. To compare our roads to England's they are terrible. If you compare the infrastructure to Europeans we are in the stone age. Any Irish man who drives across Europe notices this. Our government are trying to close down regional hospitals and setup massive hospitals to cater for an entire region. Of course they are closing down the hospitals first before building these massive hospitals. At the moment the hospital closes a 8 o'clock it was suppose to be 5 o'clock but protest changed that. Our water system is also contaminated. The entire countries water is not drinkable. and the list goes on

Then the question to ask is: Where did the money of the European Leader programs go?

It seems to me that the problem is not the EU but the problem is local governance.

And as far as I remember the idea was to let all Europeans vote, which resulted in the French not voting for or against a constitution but against the new employment laws, the Dutch not voting for or against a constitution but against neo-liberalism. The experiment was aborted as nobody had any interest in it or nobody really cared what the referendum was about, which was: Do you want more democratic rights and representation within the EU?

And there is where hypocrisy comes into play, everybody against the European Union yaddahs something about democracy, while at the same time denying that it is precisely democracy, more representation and more individual rights that is contained in both the constitution and in the Lisbon treaty. Instead there are campaigns about abortion, neo-liberalism and whathaveyounot totally unrelated to the question asked.

[gozap]

Isn't that just a little bit hypocritical?

No country in the Union has benefited more from it than Ireland.

And if you want to vote I suggest to fight for that instead of the only possibility of the Irish staying in Ireland instead of emigrating all over the world.

Yeh right, I suggest you check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eu_budget

Scroll down to the "State by state analysis"

[questionmark]

Yeh right, I suggest you check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eu_budget

Scroll down to the "State by state analysis"

How many years has Ireland been getting between 500-1000 Euro per capita and how many years everybody else from the European Community?

That at this point there are some Eastern European countries that get more than 30 years ago (besides the usual ones like Greece and Portugal) is mostly because 10 years ago they were not members.

The Irish economical recovery (which is the only one since 1844) was mostly financed by the EU and the rest due to the fact that Ireland was member of the common market and did not have to overcome protectionist hurdles to sell its products abroad.

[stevewinn]

seeing how the EU have got their wicked way, what are the chances the Irish will be made to vote again? funny how things work.

[questionmark]

seeing how the EU have got their wicked way, what are the chances the Irish will be made to vote again? funny how things work.

See it this way: If Blair gets to be Prezz the Tories will be p***ed, that will get you guys the best chance Britain will ever have to get out of the Union. (Now, if they don't leave then you might as well give it up and make most of it)

[acidhead]

In 2004, the EU wrote a new constitution for the European Union.

In 2005, in the UK election, all three major parties promised the voters the chance to vote via a referendum on whether or not to ratify the new constitution, including the Labour party, which won the election.

Later that year, the French and Dutch people were given the chance to vote on the new constitution. They both voted no, effectively stopping the constitution from being adopted.

In 2007, the EU constitution is changed in such a manner that instead of being a completely new constitution, it merely overwrites all the laws within the current constitution. The document is renamed the Lisbon Treaty. As such, the various European governments claim that as it is not a new constitution, but merely changes to an existing constitution, it does not need ratifying by the voters.

On the 13th of December that year, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown signs the treaty without granting the British public the chance to vote on it's contents.

..unbelievable....

I suppose, through lawyers the history books will simply call it legislation...

But those who witnessed it and were powerless to have any say on the matter will remember it as deception.

[acidhead]

our most recent PM wasn't even elected. promised the position after the first labour term by tony blair before labour were even at the helm, brown, thought to be main contender for leader of the labour party stepped aside to let tony blair take top position, avoiding a battle that would split labour down the middle...

but things don't always go to plan. tony didn't step aside for the last elections like he was supposed to, obviously with his own (EU) agenda, he only stepped aside a year before the end of his term, leaving gordon with a huge mess to deal with. so what we have here is gordon brown, refusing to hold a general election, hanging on to the the PM slot for dear life (as he no doubt believes that he should have had the position from the beggining - and to be honest probably should have), it's a disgrace.

then of course he makes calls out to countries like iran about 'rigged elections' and how they should support democracy. makes me sick to the stomach, the whole corrupt stinking situation.

hmmmm.... career politicians....

...makes me sick to my stomach....

There used to be a day when politicians became a 'public servant' in an effort to serve the people....

When their term or two were over they returned home to their former jobs and settled into a family life.. like everybody else.

Kinda makes a person question where the career politicians loyalties lie..... hmmm... who do they really work for?

[stevewinn]

See it this way: If Blair gets to be Prezz the Tories will be p***ed, that will get you guys the best chance Britain will ever have to get out of the Union. (Now, if they don't leave then you might as well give it up and make most of it)

Q, the Tories aren't going to leave Europe. the deal is if all member states ratify the treaty before our next election (in may 2010) then the Tories wont hold a referendum.(that's if they win the election)

all political careers and projects end in failure.