June 21, 2007 2:49PM

Harsh Criticism for the Re‐​Packaged EU Constitution from a British Newspaper

By Daniel J. Mitchell

The EU Constitution is being resuscitated by Europe’s political elites, and those elites are doing their best to figure out ways to bypass voters. British voters are the best chance of saving Europe from further centralization, but Tony Blair is maneuvering to avoid a referendum. An editorial from the Sun strongly denounces the EU Constitution and hopes that Gordon Brown will protect British interests:

Tony Blair faces a stark choice at his last EU summit. He can stand up for the country that trusted him with power in three general elections. Or he can sell us down the river to the faceless EU politicians and bureaucrats who run Europe … Mr. Blair’s vaunted “red lines” won’t protect the United Kingdom from the relentless erosion of power by our EU masters. Whatever written guarantees are offered in the coming days, Britain would be folding its hand into a European superstate … Gordon Brown may not be in Brussels — but he will have the final say on how the result is sold at home. We have been promised a referendum. The incoming Prime Minister cannot allow this deal to go through without one.

A columnist in the same paper outlines the many ways in which the EU Constitution gives more power to Brussels and threatens the UK’s more open economy:

…the Reform Treaty, is virtually the same as the rejected EU Constitution. It will rob us of powers to set our own laws and put industry back 30 years … Early drafts of the document show Britain will surrender 30 per cent of its voting power in EU meetings. This will make it far harder to stop barmy EU diktats becoming UK law.


Britain’s vetoes will be axed in as many as 51 areas … The power to set tax and spend policy could also be stripped away. The Commission also wants to rob us of our right to set social security payments. Experts say the draft Treaty would mean huge changes to British law. They say a Charter of Fundamental Rights would become more legally‐​binding than UK law. The Charter will also lumber Britain’s economy with job‐​destroying EU laws.