Withdrawal from the EU Serves The People's Interests

Workers' Daily Internet Edition: Article Index :

Withdrawal from the EU Serves The People's Interests

EU-US Summit:
Contention and Collusion against the World's People

At the recently concluded European Union constitutional conference in Brussels, leaders of the 25 member states of the EU came to an agreement  on a new constitution for the Union. Some have dubbed the adoption of the constitution as a "historic moment" in the life of the EU, which will lead to the creation of a "new Europe".

Speaking following the adoption of the new constitution, Tony Blair hailed it as a "success for Britain and a success for Europe". He added that it was a sign that a "new Europe is taking shape in which Britain can build alliances and feel at home, a Europe in which there is not one dominant view". He reiterated that a referendum would be held in Britain on the new constitution, although he could give no indication of when this would be. Nevertheless, he called on voters to support the new constitution, by voting yes in the referendum so that Britain could remain at the centre of the EU decision making.  He continued that since Britain had secured all of its objectives in the negotiations surrounding the constitution and since the entrance of 10 new member states had shifted the balance of forces in favour of Britain, it was not sensible at this point for Britain to "leave the alliance altogether". Speaking in an interview shortly after Tony Blair's remarks, Patricia Hewitt declared that a no vote in the referendum would put Britain "on the road to withdrawal" from the EU.

The views of Tony Blair and Patricia Hewitt on the EU constitution and Britain's membership of the EU are an attempt to present the interests of British finance capital as if these were synonymous with the interests of the people of Britain. The opposite is in fact the case. Britain's membership of the EU, just like its subservient relationship with US imperialism, is born from the imperialist ambitions of the captains of British finance capital. For the working class and people both of these arrangements are an obstacle to their empowerment and the emergence of a new and democratic Britain, disconnected from imperialism, aggression and warmongering. Therefore it serves the people's interests to disentangle Britain from both of these relationships. Britain should withdraw from the EU, from NATO and from all other imperialist alliances.

Despite George Bush's words at the end of the EU-US summit in Ireland at the end of June that "the bitter differences over the war are over", signs of continued tensions in the EU-US relationship remain apparent. Following the two-day summit on June 25 and 26 in Ireland, a joint statement was issued

The statement pledged EU support for a request for NATO involvement in training military and police forces from Iraq and for a reduction in Iraq's international debt. Commentators noted, however, that this fell far short of initial US hopes for direct military support from NATO for the occupation of Iraq. France and Germany have been consistent opponents of any NATO military involvement in Iraq.  Following the issuing of the joint statement, Germany made it clear that it would not be sending any military instructors to Iraq, and so any training it carried out would have to be done outside of that country.

Another point in the statement, implicitly criticised the Anglo-American torturing of Iraqis and the illegal incarceration of the Guantanamo inmates, when it declared "we stress the need for full respect of the Geneva Conventions".

While the contention between these two competing blocs of finance capitalists is clear, so too are the areas of collusion. In particular, there was agreement to step up co-operation in their "war on terrorism";  "to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction" and  to specifically target Sudan for new big power interference under the banner of the "humanitarian and human rights crisis in Darfur in western Sudan".

The EU and US represent a huge danger to humanity, whether in their contention or in their collaboration. Their contention carries within it the seeds of a new and horrendous inter-imperialist war while their collusion carries within it threats to the freedom and independence of the world's people and even more wars of aggression and colonial occupation.