en/politics/banana.txt
2005-03-09
Rhetorics, the European Union and some patents
Oh yes, it's fun to wield the sword of politics, that is, rhetorics. It is, however, rather interesting to hear the same people condemn politicians for their use of rhetorics and use rhetorics of their own for their own political advantage.
Yes, I'm talking about this absurd "Banana Republic" rhetoric that has been spreading since the latest turn of events in the EU software patents farce. I'm not talking about the FFII, whose use of the rhetoric is certainly appropriate (it was in response to the Luxembourg presidency's statement that introduced the Banana Republic term to this discussion) - I'm talking about all of those individuals who parrot the FFII's position, often with false arguments, certainly with a poor understanding of the EU power structure and often with the air of "the EU approves the software patents, hence the EU must be evil" and general anti-EU sentiments.
Now, if the reports I have read are accurate, the Council of the European Union (the Council of Ministers) has made a decision on software patents in direct violation of its own rules of procedure. As such, the decision is illegal and should be challenged in a competent court of law.
However...
The following are quotes from blog postings that use the "Banana Republic" rhetoric:
Europeans: Don't let the antidemocratic Council (not elected by you) get away with it. Don't let it overturn a decision made by the European Parliament, an elected and legitimate body.
Parliaments, as the people, does not have any power anymore. Councils rise!
Thanks to all those joining me with linking to the Council of the European Union (CONSILIUM), for their shady move towards software patents in Europe.
Help spread the link to this undemocratic thing in Europe, overriding the wishes of the elected parliament.
Today my my believe into democracy died. Even against several national parliaments and the european parliament the directive about software patents got adopted by the european council. This is really a sad day :(.
This is a very sad day for democracy, and casts a very dark shadow over the European Constitution, which will give the Council even more power.
(from Isaac Clerencia: Council Presidency Adopts Software Patent Agreement Against Councils Rules)
I've heard the rhetoric of the Council of Ministers being an undemocratic organ before, and I have discussed this claim before. The important point is that the Council of Ministers is an organ that directly represents the member states and consists of cabinet members of each state. Each cabinet and hence each member of the Council is directly responsible to their own national parliament, and if a member of the Council behaves contrary to the will of his or her national parliament, it is an internal problem of that particular member state, and it does not reflect on the Council as an organ of the Union. (Unfortunately to me, the Finnish government's pro-swpat stance has been approved by the national parliament. However, I don't blame the Council for this fact.)
The balance of power between the houses of the EU parliament is not ideal, I agree, but it's much better than it used to be and it will get better. In any case, the Council (which I dub the upper house of the EU parliament) does not have the power to completely overrule the lower house (the "European Parliament"). The European Parliament can, if it so chooses, kill this whole directive. Make sure your MEP knows how you feel about it, and try to stress to them how important it is that they should be actually present at the vote!
What I find most disconcerting is the use of this particular debate to strengthen rhetoric against the European Union or the proposed EU Constitution. We need European integration, and we need it badly, and even the current EU with its problems is much better than an alternative Europe without integration. For without integration, Europe is reduced again to the traditional collection of competing and conflicting states that wage war against each other.
09:44 - /en/politics - 4 comments
