[ILUG] Re:[OT] Commission seeks views on privacy legislation

[Mark Twomey]

Brian O'Donoghue wrote:

>I still wish the

>European Union a body I have never voted for had 'no power' to issue

>directives that may be legally binding in a country where I do vote.

The government has balloted the Irish people more than once on the issue of
European Integration; the nation accepted all but the most recent clauses
you say you never voted for. So you may not have voted for it, but your
parents and grand parents had the option to. You never voted to put Dev in
power but the nation did, and it's the same thing.

With all but that speed bump on the Nice Treaty we have reaped the benefits
of being a EU member state. Even as a member state we are still a
constitutional democracy, which means all that republican freedom, you enjoy
is still republican and still free.

There are two choices, have a part of a say inside Europe a body with enough
Trade Strength to stand up to the rest of the world, or be subservient to
the US where enough money can push through any crazy law. The EU can stop
mergers like trust GE and Honeywell, it can take MS to task and it can rough
up the entertainment industry if it so chooses. If you think Ireland as a
nation could do any such thing, then break out or GDP and population stats
and look again. If you think Ireland could fight and anti-trust of privacy
viloation against something that has been passed in the US congress, you're
dreaming. If you don't like Europe, then ask to give any subsidy, which the
EU have provided and you have used, back.

The EU is not the central planning style organisation of the Soviet Union,
and I'll admit I might be happier if it were run more like a commonwealth,
(Not to be confused with "The" Commonwealth) but at the end of the day
Ireland is better off on the inside than on the outside.

Mark.