EU-Digest July-August Poll results shows majority polled want stronger European Union - by RM

A recent EU-Digest poll  (see insert) shows a majority of those polled favor a stronger, better structured and governed European Union.

Only 20%  favored a return to independent nationhood for the 28 nation member Union.

A large percentage (40%) felt that the EU has not become stronger, or more unified over the past 10 years to face the challenges of globalization

If there is any finger pointing to be done about the progress that has been made so far in Bruxelles, as to creating a stronger and better functioning Union, it must be noted that more than half of the 28 EU governments are run or led by Conservative and right-leaning Liberal governments. This political picture is also reflected in the EU Commission and the EU Parliament.

Consequently legislation on a Financial Transaction Tax, the regulation of casino capitalism, off-shore tax evasion, an independent foreign policy, or more social justice in the area of immigration and migrant policies have not been forthcoming. Mainly because legislation within the EU and among member states has been blocked by inward looking nationalist and conservative political forces 

Another major issue looming high above the EU's weak and "toothless" legislative structure is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, as it is known. TTIP will be the most important global trade agreement of its kind, representing nearly half of the world's GDP.  It is a trade deal between the USA and the EU, whose impact will be felt by all and everyone.

Is the EU able to control these negotiations, or at best, to keep them on an even playing field against the slick US corporate trained and supported negotiating team? Not really, if one looks at how the US's NSA got away with spying on the EU commission, EU corporations, local EU governments and EU citizens.

Bottom-line: Europe needs some imaginative thinking and vision to lift it out of its current torpor.

Watered down solutions will eventually bring this amazing and most promising global project of this century, called the EU, which has brought peace and prosperity to the European continent now for over 50 years, to a standstill.

Our new EU-Digest is about the election of the EU President  - should it be by popular vote or by parliamentary majority ? 

EU-Digest 

EU-US Trade Pact Negotiations: Will US Chlorine Chicken and Genetically modified foods end up on European dinner tables?

Famous TV Chef Jamie Oliver

Famous TV Chef Jamie Oliver who is popular around the world has warned that a new trade deal presently being negotiated between the EU and America will open the door in Europe to inferior US food products, including beef pumped up with growth hormones, banned additives and pesticides.

There are also concerns that GM crops and food produced in the USA, which have not been through more strict vetting procedures in Europe, could be forced on to dinner plates of Europeans

The campaigner and chef held talks this week with British Business Secretary Vince Cable to outline his ‘massive concerns’ that the deal could seriously undermine European food and farming

"If Europe signs this TTIP deal we are signing our own death sentence, because it is hardly news that the United States faces epidemic health problems linked to poor diets and hormone infected food. Nearly two out of every five Americans today are obese as a result of the bad and polluted food they consume and Europe must not go down that same road", said a EU parliamentarian. 

When EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, who is negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership" (TTIP) between the EU and US on behalf of the EU 28 member states  was asked if chlorine chicken and genetically modified foods would end up on the plates of European consumers if the agreement is signed, she said: "No, that's a myth. we have high standards of consumer protection in the EU that will not be compromised by a trade agreement. Genetically modified foods are not allowed in Europe, hormone-treated meat is also taboo here, and chlorine-treated chickens are prohibited.

Hopefully the EU Commission and Parliament will keep a watchful eye that the EU does not fall for the "sweet talk" of the Americans. Remember they are mainly carrying out the objectives of their multi-national corporate sponsors in these crucial EU-US negotiations.

EU-Digest