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I've attached to this message a scan I took of an article in the February issue of the Scots Independent Newspaper. It was essentially rubbishing EFTA in favour of joining the EU.
I asked Dr Jim WIlkie about it and he copied me into an email he sent to Jim LYnch the editor of the SI which I copy here. You should however likely read the scanned article before reading his reply.
Here is the email...
Jim, I am struggling to get round the mountain of writing work I have on hand at the moment, but I can't let Tony Giugliano's farrago of nonsense on EFTA/EEA membership pass without at least pointing out that the man has no idea what he is talking about. It would take a completely new article to correct his obviously not researched repetition of long since demolished mythology. Fact is that the EFTA members of the European Economic Area have exactly the same rights as the members of the EU side of the EEA. Take a look at this extract from the Agreement on the European Economic Area (it is still in its original terminology - for EC read EU).
Article 99
1. As soon as new legislation is being drawn up by the EC Commission in a field which is governed by this Agreement, the EC Commission shall informally seek advice from experts of the EFTA States in the same way as it seeks advice from experts of the EC Member States for the elaboration of its proposals.
2. When transmitting its proposal to the Council of the European Communities, the EC Commission shall transmit copies thereof to the EFTA States.
At the request of one of the Contracting Parties, a preliminary exchange of views takes place in the EEA Joint Committee.
3. During the phase preceding the decision of the Council of the European Communities, in a continuous information and consultation process, the Contracting Parties consult each other again in the EEA Joint Committee at the significant moments at the request of one of them.
4. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in good faith during the information and consultation phase with a view to facilitating, at the end of the process, the decision-taking in the EEA Joint Committee.
Article 100
The EC Commission shall ensure experts of the EFTA States as wide a participation as possible according to the areas concerned, in the preparatory stage of draft measures to be submitted subsequently to the committees which assist the EC Commission in the exercise of its executive powers. In this regard, when drawing up draft measures the EC Commission shall refer to experts of the EFTA States on the same basis as it refers to experts of the EC Member States.
In the cases where the Council of the European Communities is seized in accordance with the procedure applicable to the type of committee involved, the EC Commission shall transmit to the Council of the European Communities the views of the experts of the EFTA States.
The EEA comprises members of both EFTA and EU. All the EFTA members are represented individually on its governing bodies, including the EEA Court of Justice, but its EU members are represented collectively by the EU Commission. The same applies to the all-important "top table" of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where the EFTA members have their individual voices, whereas the EU members have only one voice - that of the EU Commission. A seat at the "top table"?
There is also no such institution as a "European Court of Justice" (ECJ) - the very name does not exist. The EU court is an internal tribunal that adjudicates only on EU-internal regulations, directives and other matters concerning only its 27 member states. It has no European legal jurisdiction whatsoever, especially not over genuinely European law emanating from the other major all-European institutions like the Council of Europe, the OSCE or the UNECE, which are all repositories of important international treaties - which the EU is not. It is the 56-member OSCE, a Chapter VIII organisation under the Charter of the United Nations, that represents Europe at the UN and reports on Europe to the Security Council.
I am not giving you all this for publication, but as background for assessing any future material on the subject that may be offered to you, in order to prevent any more disasters like the Giugliano nonsense. Government policies have to be based on facts, not legends.
Finally, Here is an advance copy of the latest SDA action at international diplomatic level. This is a shot before the bows of the London establishment, to discourage them from interfering in the referendum arrangements. We are repeating the Scotland-UN Committee tactic of "saturation bombing" of the Council of Europe and the OSCE by copying the submission to all the 47 and 56 member states individually. We are all right with the Irish chairmanship of the OSCE in 2012, but since William Hague is chairman of the CoE Committee of Ministers until 14 May we want to prevent him from having the issue swept under the carpet. (This was how Scotland-UN got the present devolved systems set up after the European summit in October 1993.) We had intelligence reports that Hague intended to "streamline" the CoE procedures on local and regional democracy that Scotland-UN exploited from 1993 onwards, presumably just to prevent any repetition of the Scotland-UN coup in 1993/97. So this SDA coup is designed to forestall his coup. Alex Salmond should have had a personal copy handed over at Inverurie by the time this reaches you.
All the best for now, and I hope to produce something for you when I get my hands free.
Saor Alba,
Jim
I asked Dr Jim WIlkie about it and he copied me into an email he sent to Jim LYnch the editor of the SI which I copy here. You should however likely read the scanned article before reading his reply.
Here is the email...
Jim, I am struggling to get round the mountain of writing work I have on hand at the moment, but I can't let Tony Giugliano's farrago of nonsense on EFTA/EEA membership pass without at least pointing out that the man has no idea what he is talking about. It would take a completely new article to correct his obviously not researched repetition of long since demolished mythology. Fact is that the EFTA members of the European Economic Area have exactly the same rights as the members of the EU side of the EEA. Take a look at this extract from the Agreement on the European Economic Area (it is still in its original terminology - for EC read EU).
Article 99
1. As soon as new legislation is being drawn up by the EC Commission in a field which is governed by this Agreement, the EC Commission shall informally seek advice from experts of the EFTA States in the same way as it seeks advice from experts of the EC Member States for the elaboration of its proposals.
2. When transmitting its proposal to the Council of the European Communities, the EC Commission shall transmit copies thereof to the EFTA States.
At the request of one of the Contracting Parties, a preliminary exchange of views takes place in the EEA Joint Committee.
3. During the phase preceding the decision of the Council of the European Communities, in a continuous information and consultation process, the Contracting Parties consult each other again in the EEA Joint Committee at the significant moments at the request of one of them.
4. The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in good faith during the information and consultation phase with a view to facilitating, at the end of the process, the decision-taking in the EEA Joint Committee.
Article 100
The EC Commission shall ensure experts of the EFTA States as wide a participation as possible according to the areas concerned, in the preparatory stage of draft measures to be submitted subsequently to the committees which assist the EC Commission in the exercise of its executive powers. In this regard, when drawing up draft measures the EC Commission shall refer to experts of the EFTA States on the same basis as it refers to experts of the EC Member States.
In the cases where the Council of the European Communities is seized in accordance with the procedure applicable to the type of committee involved, the EC Commission shall transmit to the Council of the European Communities the views of the experts of the EFTA States.
The EEA comprises members of both EFTA and EU. All the EFTA members are represented individually on its governing bodies, including the EEA Court of Justice, but its EU members are represented collectively by the EU Commission. The same applies to the all-important "top table" of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where the EFTA members have their individual voices, whereas the EU members have only one voice - that of the EU Commission. A seat at the "top table"?
There is also no such institution as a "European Court of Justice" (ECJ) - the very name does not exist. The EU court is an internal tribunal that adjudicates only on EU-internal regulations, directives and other matters concerning only its 27 member states. It has no European legal jurisdiction whatsoever, especially not over genuinely European law emanating from the other major all-European institutions like the Council of Europe, the OSCE or the UNECE, which are all repositories of important international treaties - which the EU is not. It is the 56-member OSCE, a Chapter VIII organisation under the Charter of the United Nations, that represents Europe at the UN and reports on Europe to the Security Council.
I am not giving you all this for publication, but as background for assessing any future material on the subject that may be offered to you, in order to prevent any more disasters like the Giugliano nonsense. Government policies have to be based on facts, not legends.
Finally, Here is an advance copy of the latest SDA action at international diplomatic level. This is a shot before the bows of the London establishment, to discourage them from interfering in the referendum arrangements. We are repeating the Scotland-UN Committee tactic of "saturation bombing" of the Council of Europe and the OSCE by copying the submission to all the 47 and 56 member states individually. We are all right with the Irish chairmanship of the OSCE in 2012, but since William Hague is chairman of the CoE Committee of Ministers until 14 May we want to prevent him from having the issue swept under the carpet. (This was how Scotland-UN got the present devolved systems set up after the European summit in October 1993.) We had intelligence reports that Hague intended to "streamline" the CoE procedures on local and regional democracy that Scotland-UN exploited from 1993 onwards, presumably just to prevent any repetition of the Scotland-UN coup in 1993/97. So this SDA coup is designed to forestall his coup. Alex Salmond should have had a personal copy handed over at Inverurie by the time this reaches you.
All the best for now, and I hope to produce something for you when I get my hands free.
Saor Alba,
Jim
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