&host=www.rt.com&uri=/news/eu-ussr-parallels/&via=1.1 199.93.58.137:80 (Footprint 4.8/FPMCP)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
”I like to compare EU with Soviet Union”- European Parliament member
Published: 06 October, 2010, 11:10
Edited: 11 October, 2010, 23:05
TAGS: EU, UK, Politics, Europe
The European Union should not be expected to last forever, believes British politician and member of the EU Parliament Roger Helmer.
”I do not think that the European Union can last forever,” Helmer told RT. “I like to compare it to the USSR, we should not do the comparison too far, but I think there are a lot of factors.”
“Essentially, both the USSR and the European Union have decided to create structures that ignore the identity and aspiration of the people and eventually the aspiration and identity of the people reasserts itself,” he added.
“The Soviet Union lasted for about 70 years, the European Union has just lasted for about 50 years [meaning beginnings of the European Economic Community] and I would not be at all surprised to see the same pattern, I think, in 20 years time. There may be something that is called European Union but I think it will look very different and be much less influential than it is today.”
06.10.2010, 11:07
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06.10.2010, 12:06
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Enrique is wrong in his last paragraph. The common currency has been the main reason why Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy are in an economic mess and why, apart from draconian measures, there is little they can do about it. The UK is in a mess because of bad government but by having its own currency is able to make the forthcoming pain much less than it might be. Like the USSR there is, and will not be for a very long time, a common European Demos. Therefore the EU can never be democratic. The European Parliament is about as effective, and self-important, as the Supreme Soviet. If the UK was to leave the EU it would reap billions of £s as well as remain as influential as it is, despite being in the EU. Were the EU to impose drastic trade penalties it would be the loser because of a big trade surplus with the UK; the two wealthiest countries in Europe, Norway and Switzerland, are not members of the EU. Just because everyone tells you membership of a club is a mark of distinction and superiority is no reason to join.
There are several similarities between the European Union and the old Soviet Union. Both have/had elections and parliaments but neither has/had democratic government. Both exist/existed in spite of the will of the constituent peoples. Both are/were over-centralised, over-regulated and corrupt.
To Enrique ; absolute bull ! The sooner the UK leaves this corrupt organisation called the EU the better for all . Just one point . If you are in business how long could you cook the books for before criminal charges were brought to bear ? 14 years as with the EU, where auditors have refused to sign off the accounts ? I don't think so .