European Union: No freedom, no security and no justice

23.09.2010 13:12 

By Hans Vogel

On the first two days of July, the European Commission is organizing a 
conference called "EU Citizens' Rights - The way forward." According to the 
Commission, its goal is "to take stock of the progress made in the area of 
Union citizenship since its inception, and to look at what still remains to be 
done to make citizens' rights easily accessible and tangible on the ground." By 
the way, the term "on the ground" seems to have been taken directly from US 
military parlance, as in "boots on the ground" (in Afghanistan, Iraq or 
anywhere else). This in itself may be seen as indicative of the true feelings 
among the members of the European Commission, the closest equivalent to the old 
Soviet Politbureau.

While most of you out there in Europe are working at your jobs, and ever 
growing numbers are trying to make a living off the ever shrinking dole, the 
European Commission is busy building a brave new Europe. The Commission does so 
by means of detailed four-year plans (mind you, Adolf Hitler also worked his 
miracles through four-year plans!). These plans are written in the kind of 
dense and horrible style the French call "langue de bois," (wooden language) 
and which for all practical purposes might be called "commissionese."

According to an official EU web site, "one of the fundamental objectives of the 
European Union, as stated by the Treaty of Lisbon that entered into force on 
December 1, 2009, is to offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and 
justice without internal borders."

Apart from the July event at Brussels, chaired by Commission Vice President 
Viviane Reding (responsible for "Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship"), 
one of the instruments by means of which the Commission seeks to attain this 
objective is the so-called Stockholm Programme. This programme strives to 
achieve "an open and secure Europe serving and protecting the citizen."

You have to admit this all sounds truly convincing and impressive, does it not? 
Indeed a cursory reading tends to confirm this favorable impression. However, 
actual political practice is very, very far removed from the lofty theories and 
ideals found in the official documents. A recent example may get the idea 
across.

For instance, chapter 2.5 which deals with the protection of citizen's rights 
in the information society: "When it comes to assessing the individual's 
privacy in the area of freedom, security and justice, the right to freedom is 
overarching. The right to privacy and the right to the protection of personal 
data are set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Union must therefore 
respond to the challenge posed by the increasing exchange of personal data and 
the need to ensure the protection of privacy. The Union must secure a 
comprehensive strategy to protect data within the EU and in its relations with 
other countries. In that context, it should promote the application of the 
principles set out in relevant EU instruments on data protection and the 1981 
Council of Europe Convention on data protection as well as promoting accession 
to that convention."

Probably, you would think this paragraph means that the Commission is doing its 
best to protect your private data against the forces of evil. Ha! You have got 
it all wrong! Just last Monday 27 June, in what was presented as a major step 
in the "war on terror," Mrs. Cecilia Malmström, the Commissioner for "Home 
Affairs," signed a treaty with the US for the transfer of all your private 
banking data to the US authorities.

That's right! The US, the country that claims the right to declare anyone it 
pleases an "enemy combatant," the country that randomly kidnaps foreign 
nationals abroad and then drags them off to secret concentration camps to be 
tortured and killed, the country that systematically tramples human rights both 
at home and abroad, the country that routinely kills any person it deems an 
enemy, that country now gets to see your private banking data. You think this 
is harmless? How wrong you are! Under new Supreme Court rulings, the US 
government can whimsically declare any group to be a terrorist organization. 
Anyone who has had dealings with such a group is automatically considered a 
terrorist himself. For having bought a harmless tee shirt from some human 
rights group, you could actually be qualified as a terrorist by the US 
government, for the simple reason that it considers the human rights group to 
be a terrorist organization. Do not shrug this off: a similar case in Denmark 
has landed people in jail. And Denmark actually has a rather decent human 
rights record! So now, every money transfer that you make, to your son, your 
daughter, your old mother, your grocery store, to anyone at all, every transfer 
is henceforth under scrutiny from the US authorities. All talk about guarantees 
for fair use of these data is meaningless. Certainly, the US does not care an 
iota about promises made to other governments.

For having signed away your privacy,for having put you at the mercy of the US, 
a confirmed rogue state, Mrs. Cecilia Malmström deserves to be called either 
stupid or evil, or both.

In order to find out more, I decided to ring Mrs. Malmström's spokesperson, Mr. 
Michele Cercone. I asked him specifically: "does the European Commission take 
US assertions concerning the nature, extent and origin of terrorism at face 
value?" Notsurprisingly, after first reprimanding me for asking a "broad 
question," Mr. Cercone gave me the usual line on "transatlantic cooperation, 
exchange of information and fight against terrorism."

I managed to get in another question, namely "how can individual Europeans 
prevent their private banking data from falling into the hands of the US 
authorities?" This time, Mr. Cercone referred me vaguely to some procedures for 
citizens, from which I concluded the situation was as bad as I had suspected. I 
decided it really makes no sense to try to get a personal interview with Mr. 
Cercone. Even this underling claimed to have a long waiting list of journalists 
eager to talk to him. This amazes me: so many colleagues out there eager for 
getting a fresh load of spin! I will not sign up to the list and listen to 
clever and not-so clever lies about the fine work Mrs. Malmström is doing.

The Commission, in the person of Mrs. Malmström, has no right selling down the 
river the very people it claims to be protecting. Instead of European citizens 
trying to prevent their data from falling into the hands of a rogue state 
government, it should be the other way around. If Mrs. Malmström and the 
Commission are so eager to please the band of criminals running the US, they 
could, for instance, at least have left it to individual European citizens to 
voluntarily surrender their banking data to US scrutiny. You can always find 
plenty of naïve individuals who would do such a thing. Mrs. Malström and the 
European Commission, every single member of it, are traitors who ought to be 
put on trial.

The best way to find out about the shady doings of the European Commission? 
Read their documents! Read their programmes and statements. Read, read, read! 
Do not lose your time listening to the slick rantings of spin "doctors." Read, 
think and draw your conclusions. Read and think dialectically. Actually, most 
of the time, the very opposite of what is being stated is the truth.

Europe an area of freedom, security and justice? Indeed, for the members of the 
Commission and their servants, there is freedom to travel (of course, at your 
expense), freedom of speech (because they will not allow anyone of you near 
them), security (they are well-protected, while you are made to live in a 
dangerous neighborhood), and justice (not your justice, their own twisted 
justice).

Europe an area of freedom, security and justice? Not for you that is. For you, 
it is the very opposite, no freedom, no security and no justice.

Just a small piece of advice: pay in cash as often as you can. This way you 
will obstruct both the US authorities and the European Commission. The 
Commission reportedly wants to achieve a cashless society. That way it is even 
easier to keep tabs on everyone.

Hans Vogel

Дмитрий Судаков

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