Telegraph 16 Novembre 2009

The European Commissioners who make our law should have stood down at the end of October, says Christopher Booker

A good many people were shocked to learn that the order to break up two of our largest banking empires, RBS and Lloyd's TSB, at great cost to shareholders and pension funds, was given by the EU's Dutch Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes. They might have been even more shocked to know, as Lord Willoughby de Broke explained in the Lords last week, that this unelected official exercising such enormous power over Britain's affairs is not even legally entitled to occupy her office.

On October 31 the five-year term of all the Brussels Commissioners expired. Under the Treaty they should therefore have stepped down. But because of the hiatus before the newly-ratified Constitution comes into force next month, the existing Commissioners simply decided to stay on until a new Commission is appointed. When Lord Willoughby pointed out that there is no authorisation for this in the Treaty and that they are therefore acting illegally, the former Commissioner Lord Kinnock leaped up to claim that the Commissioners were perfectly entitled to stay in office under Article 216 of the Treaty.

Had Lord Windbag actually looked at the Treaty before opening his mouth, he would have seen that the sole purpose of Article 216 is to lay down that any Commissioner found "guilty of serious misconduct' or who "no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his duty" must be "compulsorily retired". Since the current Commissioners "no longer fulfil the conditions required", they should all thus be retired immediately.

While they are about it, they might also relieve Lord Kinnock of the £75,000 a year pension he enjoys as a former Commission vice-president, since it is clear that he doesn't even know how to read the Treaty properly.

Source > Telegraph , 14 nov

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