Six of the European Union’s largest nations are being criticized for conducting secret meetings and making important decisions about some of the Continent’s most critical issues. These nations are not only holding regular meetings on issues such as immigration and terrorism, but often there is little to no public information about the agenda or outcome of the meetings.
A scathing report produced by the British House of Lords EU Committee slams “the lack of transparency at the meetings that have been taking place since 2003 and are attended by justice ministers from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Poland” (EUobserver.com, July 19). The latest meeting occurred in March this year.
On July 18, the bbc reported, “Ministers at the talks, which took place over two days at the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, Germany, discussed their joint response to terrorism, illegal immigration and organized crime. The [House of Lords] peers said they would expect decisions taken at those meetings to ‘attract wide interest from the media,’ the European Parliament and national parliaments. But they complained, ‘This was not the case” (emphasis ours).
These leaders from the EU’s six most powerful and influential states are not only discussing—but also making decisions on—critical, Continent-wide issues. These meetings, which have been occurring for three years, have received little to no attention from the media, the European Parliament or Europe’s national governments, and there is barely any public record of their agenda or outcome.
The report stated that at the meeting in Germany earlier this year, “They discussed almost every aspect of EU policy of interest to them, and in many cases reached firm conclusions on the action which should be taken and the timetable for it. However, in the United Kingdom, the meetings went almost entirely unnoticed” (ibid.).
As a 25-member bloc of nations, the EU is currently incapable of making quick decisions and speaking with one mind. Conflicting national interests prevent the EU from asserting itself as a legitimate and unified power. Europe’s six largest nations conducting clandestine meetings and making important decisions without involvement from the other 19 EU member states is likely the only way they can get something done! Still, this is yet another example of the anti-democratic nature of the European Union.
Of the six nations identified in the British House of Lords report, there is one nation in particular that we should keep our eyes on: Germany. This nation is already becoming the driving force behind European unification.