EU Defence Minsters to Establish an Military Transport Fleet

IN A statement on November 23 the Peace & Neutrality Alliance (PANA) said that fourteen of the EU's Defence Ministers have signed a letter of intent to establish an EU Military Transport Fleet based on the A400M and the C130. Various options are being considered and the European Defenc Agency CEO Alexander Weiss hoped to achieve operating capability by 2014.

The states are; Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, German, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden, while two other unnamed countries are set to sign in the coming weeks.

Roger Cole, Chair of PANA said:

“PANA made the case during the Lisbon referendum that the core rationale of the treaty was to facilitate the acceleration of the process of the militarisation of the EU. The creation of a European Military Transport Fleet can only be justified if the intention is to transport a large European Army to places well beyond the borders of the EU such as Afghanistan or Iran. It is not clear if Ireland is one of the unnamed countries but there is no doubt that the political parties and corporate media that supported the Lisbon Treaty were well aware of the acceleration in the process of the militarisation of the EU as witnessed by the creation of this MTF.

“PANA however will continue to oppose this process of military escalation in conjunction with our allies in the European peace movement. We are convinced that the latest polls in for example in Britain, that show over 70% of the people want the British troops to withdraw from Afghanistan, that the people's of Europe reject the war agenda of the political/corporate media elite and that this rejection will find political expression in time and perhaps sooner than later.”

Struggle goes on after Lisbon

IN A STATEMENT the Vice President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton said that the Czech Republic’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty on November 3, paving the way for its adoption as EU law does not mark the end of history. “The principles of upon which the campaign against the Lisbon Treaty was fought are timeless and will hold true as long as the human race exists.

“The fight for real political and economic democracy both within and between states must go on. The struggle against imperialism in Ireland is part of the wider international struggle for human progress, freedom and democracy.

“The forces we face have rarely been more formidable but the ideals which inform our activism and struggle have never been more relevant or needed.” Des Dalton said.

CZECH PRESIDENT Václav Klaus finally signed the Lisbon Treaty on November 3, clearing the way for the reform accord to become European Union law as early as next month.

The Czech constitutional court threw out a final objection to it but he was granted an exemption from a rights charter that he said would expose it to property claims from millions of Germans who were expelled from Czechoslovakia after the second World War.

“I had expected the court ruling and I respect it, although I fundamentally disagree with its content and justification . . . With the Lisbon Treaty taking effect, the Czech Republic will cease to be a sovereign state, despite the political opinion of the constitutional court,” said Václav Klaus.

It is the last of the EU’s 27 member states to ratify the treaty, which will give the bloc a full-time president and a more powerful foreign policy chief.

Václav Klaus fears it will transfer too much power from national governments to Brussels and lay the groundwork for an EU “super-state”.

Klaus’s signature ends some eight years of wrangling over how to reform the workings of the EU.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, premier of current EU presidency holder Sweden, said the treaty could come into force next month, and that a summit would be held “as soon as possible” to find the first EU president.