The Fulfilment of Lisbon

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. 20, 2009-

The Union has spoken: the Franco-German core of the EU seeks to fuse with the United Kingdom.

With the choice of Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, the Council has kept the presidency under the yoke of the member states. There will be no new bold EU leadership. Belgium, as a whole, is always a favourite for Franco-German compromise. It's a small country with no great ambitions of its own, roughly equidistant from Paris, Berlin, and London.

The city as the end of the last sentence is especially important. Of all the 27 member states, the UK has the strongest anti-EU movement, to the point of even electing separatists to the European Parliament.

A majority of Britons want a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and are disillusioned with the Labour governments failure to keep their promise to hold one. Now that Lisbon is in force, the Conservatives, widely expected to come to power in the next election, have also retracted their former standing policy of holding a referendum. This leaves the British public with few options when it comes to expressing their Euro-scepticism, creating a potentially explosive situation.

The power brokers of the EU are keenly aware that sooner or later, a new treaty, or perhaps even a revamped constitution will require the endorsement of the British electorate. With so much lingering anger and resentment over the dashed referendum on Lisbon, Britons will - and mark my words - defeat, anything that is put before them to a vote. In my estimation, the powers in Whitehall and Brussels have passed Lisbon at the expense of the UK's continued membership in the EU.

With this in mind, we arrive at the appointment of UK trade commissioner Catherine Ashton as High Representative of the Union. It is therefore clear to me that this appointment is an attempt by the European Union to kiss and make up with the UK for the way in which Lisbon was ratified. To this end, the announcement of both High Representative and President were made by none other than British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, despite the fact that Sweden currently holds the chairmanship of the EU.

This said, do not despair, the universe is unfolding as it should. And in God's good time, the UK will leave the Union and pursue other options, to the betterment of the EU itself. On the whole, both appoints are good for the EU. I wonder how many Presidents the EU will appoint before they are elected.

Similarly, prior to the 17th amendment, U.S. Senators were not elected by the people, but appointed by state legislators. Reminding us that people will always demand a say in the election of those that exercise power, and the presidency of the EU will be no different.

Follow me along on this, you see the best part is an elected President would not require a new treaty. Simply hold a referendum across Europe, and appoint the winner. This once occurred in Canada (which still has appointed Senators), when the Province of Alberta held it's own election for senators outside of the Constitution, and the winning candidate was subsequently appointed to the red chamber by former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

I look forward to the day when Europe votes as one, and elects a true President of Europe. Though I'd wager that this day will come too late for the UK to take part.