When all fails, it is time for the Maltese to speak up

As I sat down to watch Jose Manuel Barroso speak at the end of the European Council, I couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that the dictionary definition of ‘waste of space’ is, in fact, ‘Jose Manuel Barroso’.

The same accusation could also be attributed to other heads of state who pretend to have taken steps against the Russians.

Honestly? Russian President Vladimir Putin must be having a good laugh.

He knows Europe are a bunch of loosely-linked states with not much in common, headed by a figurehead by the name of Jose Manuel Barroso.

Russia has annexed Crimea just like Adolf Hitler annexed Alsace Lorraine and the Sudentland. And then – like now – Europe had nothing to say.  The take-over was peaceful and not a shot was fired.

Putin rushed in to liberate the long-suffering Russians. It is of course dangerous that Russia has issues over its borders in 2014.

Europe has once again proven that it is too fragmented and too diverse to offer any opposition.

It is about normal for the EU to make token statements, but nothing of real substance. The EU, like the Pope, has little clout. It would probably be fair to say that the Pope actually has more influence than the short Portuguese man who runs the EU.

I feel that at the end of the day Europe has let us all down. The moral of that story boils down to whether we should really bother to vote in the first place. saviour balzan

Europe and the Union are helpless to act.

And this has not been the only case.

As Syria destroys itself and over 2 million refugees spill into neighbouring countries, none of the European powers have the power to take any action. Apart from statements of support and solidarity, nothing really materialises.

From Russia, Putin knows that the West is weak and has little or no love for conflict. Better still, he knows that there is not even a remote chance for a military or political escalation.

And yet, this European failure extends to other spheres.

The decision by the Turkish prime minister to block Twitter led to a terse reaction by the European parliament’s vice president. Needless to say, even David Casa, the PN MEP who is hoping to get re-elected (and probably will be) condemned Turkey. But does his condemnation actually carry any influence or importance?

I mean let’s face it, who gives a f*** about the European Union?

Such rhetoric really has little or no effect on anything and it is yet another example of the theatrics that dominate the Union.

Casa has of course been an incredible presence in Brussels. ‘Incredible’ in the sense that he has managed make a name for himself by actually doing jack shit. Even worse, Casa – who happens to be gay – has actually taken a stand against gay issues and got away with it. Having worked with Casa in the Iva Malta għall-Ewropa movement, I know what he stands for.

Just like Joe Cuschieri – who is a Labour MEP – and who is still figuring out what the whole European experience is about, in his case it is not, “Think Global, Act Local”, but rather… “Think Local, Get Paid Global”.

Cuschieri is at a complete loss when he sits with his socialist comrades and listens to them debating issues such as abortion.  Joseph is, of course, “against the heinous crime of abortion because of his Catholic beliefs”.

Wow. This effectively means that he follows the Maltese take on abortion – a loud, unambiguous ‘no’ – because he knows that abortion, like hunting, is not electorally sensible.

Which of course beckons me to ask: do we really need a European parliament? It does allow six Maltese MEPs to get handsomely remunerated… but apart from that, it achieves next to nothing.

The whole decision-making process is in the council and rests with the President – not even the commissioners. 

The entire European Union is in fact a talking shop that costs the tax-payer millions of euros to run.

It is even worse for the Maltese MEPs, in the sense that none of them can really act on the things they believe in. They do act of a few things like mobile telephony and so on… but nothing that really changes the lives of the people in Malta.

It is a big ego trip and more importantly, it is a gravy train.

And of course, if you are waiting for an example, how about the example of hunting in spring? It is the one example which will best illustrate what parrots we have for candidates.

None of them – apart from one, I am told – are willing to express their true feelings and beliefs and state that they are against spring hunting. Why? Because they feel they will go against party policy and are scared there will be backlash against them from the hunting lobby.

So much so that Clint Camilleri, a Labour MEP from Qala, joined Cyrus Engerer to support spring hunting. The architect used the word ‘condone’ instead of ‘condemn’ when issuing a statement about hunting this week, but it does not change the fact that Camilleri will not get my vote, and that of so many others. It simply confirms that he’s an opportunist, utterly inept when it comes to expressing himself in English and about as socialist as my pet hamster.

The thing about the European Union is that it is becoming more and more evident that the whole project is one big failure.

Tax harmonisation, for example, is opposed across the Union and for good reason – because many countries take advantage of this. 

And we did not know that citizenship can be bought in the EU until Muscat introduced the scheme here.  The same applies to the idea of having a common policy on migration.

In many ways, the European Union deals with issues according to the political whims of the major powers: France and Germany (and of course, the UK). 

There is a tendency of looking the other way when it “does not matter”. And the way hunting is dealt with is a perfect example of this tendency.

The European Commission knows that Malta’s derogation is wrong and unlawful but they look the other way, because that is the understanding, at a political level.

So on this issue, the decision – for once – must be left to the Maltese public.

A great opportunity, which goes to show that the Maltese people still have an influence on their future. 

I do not have the same appreciation and enthusiasm for Europe as Simon Busuttil does.

But then, I have not had it good in Brussels like Simon, who apart from being an MEP also offered his services locally at the time, to advise on EU legal issues.

Neither do I understand how someone like Alfred Sant can stand for the European parliament, after having spewed on the EU and wasted so much his precious time painting the Union like some kind of dark netherworld. But then, we all have short memories.

On the contrary, I am very saddened by the two weights two measures of the European Commission, the political bias of many of its commissioners, and the Fellinesque appearance of many its chief officers – best exemplified by Kessler – the OLAF chief who would serve best in the role of Inspector Closeau.

I feel that at the end of the day Europe has let us all down.  The moral of that story boils down to whether we should really bother to vote in the first place.

I’m sure many share my opinion.