Britain has never been, is not, and will never be, at the "Heart of Europe" because this space is taken by the two signatories of the Franco-German Treaty, signed 22nd January, 1963.

This treaty, under Article 2, paragraph 1, binds France and Germany, under international law to "consult before any decision on all important questions of foreign policy and, in the first place, on questions of common interest, with a view to reaching as far as possible an analogous position."

This binding treaty therefore requires -- demands -- France and Germany to reach "an analogous position" -- a mutually compatible position -- ahead of any EU meetings, ahead of meetings of the Council of Ministers and ahead of meetings of the European Council. In other words, it allows them to rig the process.

The so-called "Heart of Europe" has already been colonised by France and Germany, and has been signed, sealed and documented in their treaty of 1963. (1)

Britain does not occupy that space. We never have, we never will, and it is facile to imagine otherwise.

THE POLITICAL-HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that if something happens in politics you can be sure someone planned it that way. Let's examine the plan.

The idea of the modern EU can be traced back to, at least, the Italian Leninist Altiero Spinelli, who wrote in his 1941 manifesto that "the problem which must first be solved is the final abolition of the division of Europe into sovereign national states." (2)

Spinelli wanted "the final abolition of the division of Europe into sovereign national states"!

Lest it be thought Spinelli was a one-off crank, it was Spinelli who became the European Commissioner for Industrial Policy between 1970 and 1976. He was an MEP and it was he who wrote the Draft Treaty for European Union in 1984. This became the 1986 Single European Act signed by Margaret Thatcher. (3)

Arch "anti-communist" Margaret Thatcher signed the treaty which had been drafted by Leninist Altiero Spinelli!

I make reference to this political-historical background to make the point that what we are witnessing and living through is not incidental. It is the working out of a well-conceived plan. And because it is a plan, it is not "inevitable". There is nothing "inevitable" in the world. The future is what we make it. And we can change it if we have a better plan.

THE MAJOR CLAIMS MADE FOR THE EU
Firstly, the idea that the EU promotes peace and harmony. The EU salesmen work overtime on this because they know it's their best-seller. However, wars are not caused by the existence of sovereign nation-states but by ideologies, and often internationalist ideologies.

The Wars of the Romans and the Napoleonic Wars were both attempts to unite Europe under one political order. What set off World War One? It was discontent which had seethed in the Balkans as a result of the Hapsburg Empire. Again, another attempt to create a supra-national state throughout Europe.

It is true that national sentiment can be exploited by third parties with a vested interest, but that is another matter entirely. The EU has not "kept the peace" in Europe in the last 50 years. The only threat to peace was the Soviet Union, and NATO kept that peace.

We believe the peoples of Europe can live together in harmony without the imposition of a new political, economic, and legal order which, as Spinelli wanted, is destroying the nation-states of Europe.

Secondly, the EU claims to promote national diversity and identity. (4)

However, the EU aims for standardisation in political, economic, and legal affairs. Both national diversity and identity requires the continued existence of national differences, and it is the EU which is abolishing these differences with its "harmonisation" projects.

Again the words of Spinelli haunt; "The problem which must first be solved is the final abolition of the division of Europe into sovereign national states".

SOME FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIONS TO THE EU
The BSE beef crisis made clear, that we have locked ourselves into a position where the EU controls our export markets. The EU has the power to bring any British industry to its knees. It's true that some countries had decided not to buy British beef before the crisis broke. However, there is a fundamental difference between a country choosing not to buy from us, and we being prevented from selling.

We are being denied the ability to take action on problems specific to Britain. The so-called "European Court of Justice" has already ruled certain procedures for expelling terrorists illegal. (5) Jacque Santer, the President of the EU Commission is calling for the scrapping of British border controls. (6)

We have lost accountable government. It is impossible for our MPs to read, let alone reject, the sets of EU regulations which pass through Parliament every day. Consequently, "our" politicians are only there to provide an illusion of legitimacy to a system from which accountability has all but been eliminated.

WHAT WE WANT
Altiero Spinelli, godfather of the EU, Industry Commissioner between 1970 and 1976, MEP and brainchild behind the Single European Act of 1986, knew what he wanted; the abolition of the nation states of Europe.

We, on the other hand, proclaim the nation-state as a fundamental organising principle in politics. We assert its primacy as the centre for a people's political activity and as a focus for allegiance.

We understand very well the pressing need for co-operation between the nation-states of Europe on issues like pollution. After all, pollution of the North Sea is not just a matter for Britain. However, these issues can be decided in a spirit of mutual friendship and co-operation without the need to impose a superior political, economic and legal order over the heads of the participating nation-states.

We want a Europe of friendly, diverse, peaceful, co-operating nation-states which have their own sovereign authority within their own political, economic and legal areas of responsibility.

We want to be free to develop our own policies, make our own laws, control our own economy in response to our own needs, and trade in friendship with whom we please.

REFERENCES:
(1) For a copy of this treaty see International Currency Review, Volume 23, Number 3, Summer 1996, pp. 32-34. Available from World Reports Ltd., 108 Horseferry Road, Westminster, London, SW1P 2EF.

(2) As quoted in Michael Newman, Democracy, Sovereignty and the European Union, (London: Hurst and Co., 1996), p. 16.

(3) For full details see Lindsay Jenkins, Godfather of the European Union; Altiero Spinelli, (London: The Bruges Group, 1996). Available for £4.00, with cheques made payable to, The June Press Ltd., P.O. Box 9984, London, W12 8WZ.

(4) For example, the official EU publication, European Union, (Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1994) states on p. 10, "The diversity of the individual countries, regions and cultures which have evolved over many years is to be maintained." The 1992 publication From Single Market to European Union states on p. 21, "subsidiarity is one of the fundamental characteristics of the Union and expresses the principle that the Member States preserve their individual identities." These publications are available free of charge from the European Commission, 8 Storey's Gate, London, SW1P 3AT.

(5) Terence Shaw and George Jones, "Europe forces change to exclusion orders", The Daily Telegraph, (December 1, 1995), p. 6.

(6) John Fraser, "You must surrender Santer warns Major", The Daily Mail, (Dec. 12, 1996), p. 2.