The Telegraph on the EU’s latest legal atrocity:
The islanders’ revolt has been brewing for some time. First, this community of Swedish-speaking Finns lost the right to fish at sea with traditional nets. Then Alanders saw their beloved spring duck hunting virtually abolished. To the Alanders’ final outrage, local laws on consuming “snus” or Swedish chewing tobacco, are about to be quashed by the European Court of Justice….
Snus, a form of chewing tobacco, has been outlawed by EU fiat in every nation except Sweden, which secured a -special opt-out as a condition of its joining the EU, and in every region – except Aland. The Commission recently took Finland to court to quash Aland’s snus law. But Finland has no power to change that law. Finland does not control laws covering health in Aland; Aland does.
Aland is not allowed to defend its law before the justices in Luxembourg because the court recognises only nations. So the court is set to convict and fine Aland, without allowing the island’s government to plead its case.
In case you’re wondering why I am so contemptuous of people, this situation pretty much sums it up. Everywhere around the world, those seeking power over others dangle the supposed benefits of centralized government. It will make the trains run on time. It will be more efficient. There’s no need to have ten different villages/cities/states/nations replicating the work that can be done in one central office. Promises are made about how money will flow into the little village/city/state/nation and the bold new era of prosperity that will ensue. The matter is put to a vote.
And nine times out of ten, the idiots voluntarily stick their heads in the lion’s mouth. Only then do they discover that the naysayers – who have been dismissed as ultraconservatives too stuck in the past to see the benefits of this brave new future – weren’t anywhere nearly pessimistic enough.
I’ve seen this happen everywhere. I’ve seen it happen in the States and in England, I’ve seen it happen in local organizations and in supranational organizations, I’ve seen it in Italy and I’ve seen it in Japan. The same thing happens every single time: the newly centralized operation ends up costing more, taking money out of its new member and significantly interfering with even the pettiest actions of what used to be the local authority.
And in the end, the fools who voted for it are left lamenting their fate, like Aland’s Tomas Grunér. “I thought the EU was a good idea, but now I think it sucks.”
Note, by the way, that the EU Constitution is scheduled for its first attempt at revival later this year, as I correctly predicted when it was “killed” by the French and Dutch votes.