25 January 2001 Edition
EU dictates - we told you so
Its not often you find yourself having sympathy for Charlie McCreevy, but this week is the rare fleeting exception. The announcement that the EU Commission is to formally censure the Dublin government and the finance minister in particular for producing a budget that is not in line with the policies of the EU Stability Pact is an alarming one.
The issue at stake is not that republicans support the policies pursued by Charlie McCreevy. We find them an anathema to the basic principles of social justice. What we sympathise with is the right of Irish political representatives to formulate and implement their own economic policies.
The decision by the 20-member EU Commission to admonish the Dublin government is based on the premise that the 26-County economy is overheating and that the tax cuts in the budget could increase inflation.
The Commission could move to formally sanction the Dublin government, by perhaps holding up transfers of EU funds. It remains to be seen whether they would take such a course of action. The public slap on the wrist is in itself a fairly serious censure.
Typically, McCreevy missed the point of what the EU bureaucracy was doing. He cited the usual hype about having the fasting growing economy and how the EU was now dominated by social democrats who didn't like the economic policies being pursued in the 26 Counties. You can't blame pinko liberals all the time, Charlie.
Maybe the reason McCreevy was back to name calling was that he didn't want to face up to the fact that it was partly the actions of the many governments he has been part of that have led to today's EU censure.
They gave away control of economic sovereignty piece by piece, right up to the point where we cannot even have a budget without an unelected power wielding an influence. If the EU Commission were really pinko liberals, they would be telling McCreevy to spend more on housing, health and education. This is clearly not the message coming out of Brussels.
We used to laugh at the plans for straight bananas, the correct size of sausage and the real definition of chocolate. Who is laughing now that there is clearly no part of economic or political life in which the EU does not intervene?
Yes, there are many positive aspects to EU policies in terms of directives on equality and the environment, but this does not justify the ongoing massive interference. Ultimately this domineering paternalism is undermining the right of the people on the island to govern themselves, not to mention their ability to do it.
Facing into an as yet unknown date for a referendum on the Nice Treaty, it is just one more compelling reason to vote No.
The issue at stake is not that republicans support the policies pursued by Charlie McCreevy. We find them an anathema to the basic principles of social justice. What we sympathise with is the right of Irish political representatives to formulate and implement their own economic policies.
The decision by the 20-member EU Commission to admonish the Dublin government is based on the premise that the 26-County economy is overheating and that the tax cuts in the budget could increase inflation.
The Commission could move to formally sanction the Dublin government, by perhaps holding up transfers of EU funds. It remains to be seen whether they would take such a course of action. The public slap on the wrist is in itself a fairly serious censure.
Typically, McCreevy missed the point of what the EU bureaucracy was doing. He cited the usual hype about having the fasting growing economy and how the EU was now dominated by social democrats who didn't like the economic policies being pursued in the 26 Counties. You can't blame pinko liberals all the time, Charlie.
Maybe the reason McCreevy was back to name calling was that he didn't want to face up to the fact that it was partly the actions of the many governments he has been part of that have led to today's EU censure.
They gave away control of economic sovereignty piece by piece, right up to the point where we cannot even have a budget without an unelected power wielding an influence. If the EU Commission were really pinko liberals, they would be telling McCreevy to spend more on housing, health and education. This is clearly not the message coming out of Brussels.
We used to laugh at the plans for straight bananas, the correct size of sausage and the real definition of chocolate. Who is laughing now that there is clearly no part of economic or political life in which the EU does not intervene?
Yes, there are many positive aspects to EU policies in terms of directives on equality and the environment, but this does not justify the ongoing massive interference. Ultimately this domineering paternalism is undermining the right of the people on the island to govern themselves, not to mention their ability to do it.
Facing into an as yet unknown date for a referendum on the Nice Treaty, it is just one more compelling reason to vote No.