EU Commission not accountable

EU Commission not accountable

PUBLISHED

08/02/2008 | 09:04SHARE

Bertie Ahern somewhat dramatically claims this week that a 'No' vote would spark an EU crisis.

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He goes on to describe opponents of the treaty as "the same tired old interests retelling the same old myths".

He is absolutely wrong on both counts.

This treaty has attracted opposition from many groups and individuals who have traditionally been strong supporters of the European ideal.

A 'No' vote, far from provoking a crisis, might cause the institutions in Brussels to wake up and to remember whose interests they are supposed to represent.

As head of an NGO working in Romania, and as someone who personally supports the unity of Europe, I have very good reason to oppose the giving of further powers to the European Commission -- the body that makes decisions on our behalf but which seems answerable to nobody.

I was a witness to the shocking saga of deceit and duplicity within the EU Commission in the course of Romania's EU accession process.

Human rights were trampled on in the name of EU expansion, with the full knowledge of successive Enlargement Commissioners and their staff.

Many of the same staff involved in this despicable power game, where the disabled and the mentally ill were sacrificed on the altar of career and ego boosting that is today's EU Commission, are now involved in the accession process for the Balkan states.

I shudder to think what atrocities will now be swept under the carpet in Serbia and Croatia.

I won't be voting 'Yes'.

When the EU Commission and the Council of Ministers show that they act in the common good, then we, the citizens of the EU, should consider giving them further powers.

Until they learn to use the powers that they have for the benefit of the weak, as well as the powerful, they need to be sent packing.

I trust that the Irish people will not be found wanting.

JOHN MULLIGAN

CHAIRMAN, FOCUS ON ROMANIA

CLONSILLA ROAD, DUBLIN 15

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