New EU leaders have just been chosen. Which one did you vote for? Well, none of course. This is the EU after all. Decisions about who makes the policies which rule our lives aren’t for the likes of us. No, no.
EU leaders are carefully selected for what they bring to the table. They need to be able to enact the favoured policies, such as sustainable development goals, and further the ambitions, like military expansionism, of the corporate cartel who run the EU. All to be funded by the European tax paying citizenry.
So who has been chosen to deliver.
European Commission President: Ursula von der Leyen
The EU doesn’t have an elected executive. Meaning the branch of EU government with the sole power to propose all EU legislation, has absolutely no democratic oversight at all. Technically the ‘elected’ MEP’s could veto the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen but they only have one person to vote for. The European Council have already decided it will be Ursula.
In 2014 MEP’s, upset by the way Commission Presidents were appointed, decided to ‘elect’ their favoured candidate by majority. The Spitzenkandidaten nominee Jean Claude Juncker, was subsequently approved as Commission President by majority decision of the European Council.
This time around the technocrats who run the EU weren’t falling for any of that pseudo democracy stuff again. Cleverly, Ursula didn’t even stand or campaign in the recent European elections, effectively blind swiping the European Parliament. The previous demand from MEP’s, that this be a prerequisite for future Commission Presidents, was completely ignored behind the closed doors of the EU decision makers. They have foisted Ursula upon a somewhat surprised European Parliament, who claim they will resist.
Thankfully for the technocrats the European Parliament is hopelessly corrupt so, despite the apparent protestations, the deals will be struck and her appointment is virtually a fait accompli. They’ve already been thrown a bone with the appointment of the socialist David-Maria Sassoli to the parliamentary presidency. Who, to his credit, seems to be the only decent one among the whole bunch.
The EU have been militarising for some time as they move towards complete EU defence union by seizing command and control of all member states’ defence and security capabilities. Ursula is a big fan of the project. She wrote:
“Europe needs to improve its ability to act on behalf of its own security…..Europe’s army is already taking shape…..Among European nations, Germany and France are the driving forces in defense….Now 25 countries have joined forces in a security initiative we call Pesco…..Europe must be able to defend itself.”
So you might imagine that Ursula’s German Defence Minister role makes her an excellent choice to build the new EU military empire. However, that all depends upon what you consider the goals of the EU’s emerging military industrial intelligence and security complex to be.
Ursula has proven to be absolutely useless at running German defence policy, and quite possibly corrupt too. In January this year A German Parliamentary report concluded that Ursula had overseen the near total collapse of Germen defence capability (Bunduswehr.) In 2016 German troops had to abandon a NATO training exercise because Ursula wouldn’t approve the overtime. From submarines and helicopters to small arms and personal protective equipment, she has presided over a litany of procurement disasters.
In 2014 Ursula appointed former McKinsey executive Katrin Suder as her State Secretary for defence procurement. Her son David is also an associate of McKinsey. She was in post when, in an amazing coincidence, the private consultancy firms McKinsey and Accenture were given multimillion Euro contracts to sort out the German procurement mess. They had absolutely no effect whatsoever, though they did hoover up a lot more of German tax payers’ hard earned money.
So perhaps a shudder will go down the spine of every European tax payer and service man and woman, when they learn she recently wrote:
“….expanding our (the EU’s) security capabilities first means increased and coordinated investment in equipment that is modern and mutually compatible.”
The only drawback being that dodgy ‘calamity Ursula’ will be in charge.
Despite the numerous scandals that have characterised her political career, Ursula denies any wrongdoing. She is currently under investigation by the German parliament. So her appointment to Europe’s top job should see her promoted safely out of the way. However, if the purpose of EU Defence Union is to create an enormous funding trough, from which private corporations can feast, then Ursula would appear to have all the necessary experience.
European Council President: Charles Michel
The European Council (EU Council – not to be confused with the Council of Europe) sets the political direction of the European Union. Nation states and elected MEP’s aren’t considered capable of dealing with “complex or sensitive issues” so the EU council does this on your behalf. It also appoints the head of the European Central Bank.
The EU Council sets the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP.) It selects the Commission nominees and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security. So who better to lead discussions and policy on “complex or sensitive issues” than Charles Michel, the man who oversaw the collapse of the Belgium government because of the insensitive way he handled policy discussions?
As the Belgian Prime Minister, leading a coalition government, despite warnings from his coalition partners that they would walk out if he signed the U.N’s Migration Pact, he signed the U.N’s Migration Pact. Off they went and the coalition he led became a minority government with the stroke of his pen. Throwing Belgium into completely unnecessary political turmoil.
He then failed to form a minority government, lost a vote of no confidence and couldn’t even resign properly. Instead he was compelled to lead a powerless interim coalition just to stop the country’s political fabric dissolving completely.
This is the man who is now in charge of leading EU’s political and security policy with an assumed (non-existent) mandate to handle complex and sensitive issues. Apparently, there wasn’t anyone in Europe better qualified for this role than Charles.
European Central Bank President: Christine Lagarde
The European Central Bank (ECB) has monetary control of the Eurozone, setting interest rates and, most importantly, doing anything it likes to protect the fundamentally flawed Euro.
As the former Managing Director of the International Monetary fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde is a longstanding leader of the ‘Troika’ (the EU Commission, ECB & IMF). Following the 2008 economic crisis (a global crash largely caused by the profligacy of the private multinational banks and financial corporations,) to protect the Euro, the Troika imposed crushing austerity and tight budget controls across the Eurozone. Christine was in charge of structuring the loans (using ‘Memorandums of Understanding’) which were turned on and off like a tap, depending upon the country’s compliance.
Greece, Ireland, Cyprus and Portugal were all controlled by the Troika, huge pressure was also brought to bear on the economies of Spain and Italy. The people faced shortages of basic goods, high unemployment and low wages because the Troika decided to asset strip their economies in return for Christine’s IMF loans. Well someone had to pay for the failed business model of the banks and prop up the Euro.
Christine, who qualified in law and is not an economist, was convicted of financial negligence (a conveniently polite term for fraud) in 2016 following her involvement in an extremely dodgy €403 million deal with French business man Bernard Tapie. The best possible leader of one of the world’s most powerful banks.
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security: Josep Borrell
Effectively the EU’s Foreign Minister, Josep Borrell is the man appointed by the EU Council to lead on security (which includes intelligence, public health, the environment and policing,) EU defence Union, future military deployment, and oversight of the CSFP. So a steady hand is definitely required.
In 2000 Borrell had to withdraw his candidacy for the Spanish Presidency after he was embroiled in a financial scandal with two former colleagues. In 2014 Josep was forced to resign as head of the European University Institute after it emerged he had failed to disclose a €300,000 p.a consultancy conflict of interest with the energy firm Abengoa. Last year he was fined €30,000 for insider trading by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Leading to calls for his resignation from the post of Spanish Foreign Minister.
Renowned for his well-honed diplomatic skills, speaking to journalists at the Munich Security Conference in 2018 he said, “….Iran wants to wipe out Israel; nothing new about that. You have to live with it.” When asked about U.S independence celebrations he said, “all they (Americans) had to do was kill four Indians, but apart from that it was very easy.”
Also, as an expert at handling the media, he recently walked out of an interview with the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle after they asked him questions he didn’t like. Artfully managing his public persona by having an unseemly row with the interviewer on camera. Only a few months ago he publicly declared Russia, “an old enemy and a threat,” prompting Russia to lodge a protest and take Fernando Valderrama, the Spanish ambassador to Russia, to task to explain the outburst.
Josep Borrel would appear to just the kind of money grabbing, belligerent loose cannon you want in charge of EU security, defence and foreign policy.
Conclusion:
Were this the character list for a Mike Myers film we might anticipate fun and japes. Unfortunately, these people have been appointed to lead one of the most powerful political and economic unions on Earth. My only hope, though admittedly a distant one, is that these dictatorial appointments will shock a significant proportion of the ‘remoaners‘ into realising what it is they are trying to force the rest of us to stay signed up to.
A Kakistocracy is government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. In selecting their new EU leaders the EU has proven that is precisely what it is.
Please consider supporting my work. I really need your help if I am going to continue to provide the research and analysis that you value on a full-time basis. You can support my work for less than the price of a cup of coffee via my donor page or alternative become a paid subscriber to my Substack.
I extend my gratitude to my editor, who has provided invaluable contributions to my articles since October 2021 (but who, for personal reasons, prefers to remain anonymous).
Please feel free to share anything from iaindavis[.]com excluding any and all third party content. I use a Creative Commons License. All I ask is that you give credit to the author and clearly mark any changes you make. Please share my work widely. Censorship is increasing and we need to get this information out there. If you value what I do then please consider supporting my work. Many thanks.
Be the first to comment on "New EU Leaders – A Militarised Kakistocracy"