It’s now confirmed – the UK dodged a bullet by leaving the EU

This report has been co-published with our affiliated organisation, Brexit Facts4EU.Org.  We are most grateful for their original research into the raw data which backs what follows.

EU Conference sets a clear path towards a ‘United States of Europe’

The EU which the UK left will no longer exist in the future – it will be even worse

At a conference especially established by the EU Commission to map out the future of the EU, the delegates decided upon more centralisation, more federalisation, and less national sovereignty. The EU which British Rejoiners want to go back to will no longer exist – it will be the EU they always denied would happen.

We bring you the details of what was decided at the “Conference for the future of Europe” [they should have said ‘EU’ not ‘Europe’] in Strasbourg at the weekend and what it means.

Arch-federalist MEP Guy Verhofstadt was overcome with joy, tweeting to the world what he sees as the good news:

BREAKING — Conference on the Future of Europe approves radical overhaul of the EU: end of unanimity, abolishment of veto’s, launch of Joint Armed Forces of the Union, transnational lists and many other reforms…

🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/idm2twLN4y

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) April 30, 2022

More details on some of the extremist measures decided

There are currently many areas where the EU still requires unanimous voting at the Council of Ministers (attended by member states). Under the new proposals this will end altogether, meaning no member state will have the ability to protect their own interests in these areas.

The launch of the “Joint Armed Forces of the Union” confirms what is already in process – the creation of a unified military capability. It will mean a single army, navy and air force with no vetoes for countries to withdraw. This will be a real problem for neutral Ireland.

A further measure which was approved was that of ‘Transnational Lists’. This means the EU Parliament elections will have candidates and campaigns on an EU-wide basis, establishing EU party groupings and ultimately trans-EU parties, like the Democrats and Republicans in the USA. National groupings will wither away and national politics is intended to become a backwater, with emasculated national parliaments effectively becoming local councils.

Other proposals

It is our understanding there were 325 proposals accepted at the meeting and these include the EU Parliament being able in future to propose legislation rather than have it passed down from the EU Commission and Council of Ministers.

Together with the absence of national vetoes that would mean the ability of a majority of MEPs passing legislation that whole countries – such as Poland or Denmark – might object to.

The non-left-of-centre parties walked out

MEPs representing the right-of-centre European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Identity and Democracy (ID) groups declined to support the proposals and walked out. The ECR was particularly damning in its statement released after the walkout:-

Statement by the European Conservatives and Reformists group

“The European project has been in crisis for at least the last two decades.”

“We reject the idea that the conclusions being reached represent an expression of the will of the Europeans and, in order to remain coherent with our values and principles rather than legitimising this undemocratic and artificial exercise, hereby withdraw from the Conference on the Future of Europe.”

– ECR statement, 30 Apr 2022

The ECR listed many concerns and criticisms about this entire costly exercise

• Biased selection of citizens towards those in favour of federalism
• Age-based discrimination of citizens in favour of those under 25
• Biased selection of experts – mainly from organisations funded by the EU
• No testing of the citizens’ recommendations with the wider public
• Imposed political agenda
• Unequal footing given to different groups
• Undemocratic character of the Conference
• Limited time for reflection and debate
• Extremely poor visibility of the Conference to the public
• False consensus presented, no ‘minority reports’ possible
• Lack of procedural clarity, organisational chaos
• Lack of financial transparency – who funded this Conference?

One Swedish ECR MEP declared the whole process “a farce”

Charlie Weimers MEP

“The Conference on the Future of Europe attracted mostly those who want to centralize more power in Brussels. Entire process plagued by self-selection bias. Critical voices ignored already at the planning stages. No consideration of repatriation of powers to Member States.”

“Pro-integration citizens and activist orgs (many funded by the EU) were mobilized to legitimize further power transfers to Brussels. These minority viewpoints should NOT take precedence over elections (and we know what elites think of referendums on transfers of power to the EU)”

“Out of touch elites are taking the EU project down the wrong road and undermining democracy. We need to repatriate powers to national level where there is a real connection between voters and decision makers. This was not up for discussion.”

– Charlie Weimers MEP, Twitter, 30 Apr 2022

The many extremist MEPs from the other groups were delighted, however

“The federal state of Europe will become reality!” tweeted Green MEP Niklas Nienaß. “This will shape the world forever!”

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About CIBUK: The Campaign for an Independent Britain (CIBUK) is a non-party political campaigning organisation of people from all walks of life. It is the UK’s longest-running membership organisation for freedom, democracy and independence.

Founded in 1969, for over 50 years the CIBUK has made a significant contribution in campaigning on issues important to the majority of our population and in securing our exit from the European Union. Now it’s time for the next chapter.