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Commissioner Karel De Gucht said recently he'd re-field it until it passed: > If you decide for a negative vote before the European Court rules, let me tell yo

Commissioner Karel De Gucht said recently he'd re-field it until it passed: > If you decide for a negative vote before the European Court rules, let me tell you that the Commission will nonetheless continue to pursue the current procedure before the Court, as we are entitled to do. A negative vote will not stop the proceedings before the Court of Justice. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120625/12333619468/eu-commissioner-reveals-he-will-simply-ignore-any-rejection-acta-european-parliament-next-week.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120625/12333619468/eu-com...

maggit 14y ago
That's addressed directly in TFA: > The European Commissioner responsible for the treaty, Karel de Gucht, has said that he will ignore any rejections and re-table it before the European Parliament until it passes. That’s not going to happen. Parliament takes its dignity very seriously and does not tolerate that kind of contempt, fortunately. This is something relatively new in the history of the European Union’s democracy – the first time I saw Parliament stand up for its dignity was during the Telecoms Package, where the Commission also tried to ram through three-strikes provisions. (Instead, Parliament made “three strikes” schemes illegal in the entire European Union.)
- willvarfar 14y ago
  yes, but the article is written by an activist with obvious bias. Not a bad thing, but TFA isn't authoritative.
  - toyg 14y ago
    Regardless of bias, it is a fact that the Parliament, being a relatively new institution with very vague and weak powers (compared to the Commission and the Council), is eager to pick as many constitutional fights as it can win. In this sense, the Commissioner's remarks were like a red drape waved in front of a sleepy bull, and were probably the main cause for such an overwhelming rejection. Never tell politicians that they don't matter; it's the best way to motivate them to prove you wrong.
tamasnet 14y ago
But given the overwhelming landslide-class majority by which the measure was rejected I think he'd need to be a grade-A asshat to try it again any time soon.
Silhouette 14y ago
I suspect De Gucht may have overestimated his influence here. He has also perhaps forgotten that his term of office is not so long and that the European Parliament could even hold up the appointment of the next Commission if it wanted to make a point about abuse of authority. (It did hold up the first Barroso commission in 2004, forcing a reshuffle of which commissioner was given which portfolio, so this is certainly not an idle threat for the Parliament to make, either.) [Borrowed from a HN comment I made about a week ago on this issue: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4161254 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4161254]
- Tharkun 14y ago
  The man is an idiot in the first place. He's being investigated in Belgium for tax fraud and insider trading. He also has a bad (for a diplomat) habit of speaking his mind, which has got him banned from Congo and has quite a few Jews frothing at the mouth. His opinion, in other words, is irrelevant. Let him bark. If he doesn't end up in prison of impoverished at the least the EU and Belgian parliaments will get him to pipe down a bit.
georgemcbay 14y ago
That was strategically a dumb comment he made, and given the results of the first vote he'd only harm himself politically if he followed through. Each time he refiled it and it was again soundly defeated it would just make him look increasingly like an ineffectual buffoon.

maggit 14y ago

That's addressed directly in TFA: > The European Commissioner responsible for the treaty, Karel de Gucht, has said that he will ignore any rejections and re-table it before the European Parliament until it passes. That’s not going to happen. Parliament takes its dignity very seriously and does not tolerate that kind of contempt, fortunately. This is something relatively new in the history of the European Union’s democracy – the first time I saw Parliament stand up for its dignity was during the Telecoms Package, where the Commission also tried to ram through three-strikes provisions. (Instead, Parliament made “three strikes” schemes illegal in the entire European Union.)

willvarfar 14y ago
yes, but the article is written by an activist with obvious bias. Not a bad thing, but TFA isn't authoritative.
- toyg 14y ago
  Regardless of bias, it is a fact that the Parliament, being a relatively new institution with very vague and weak powers (compared to the Commission and the Council), is eager to pick as many constitutional fights as it can win. In this sense, the Commissioner's remarks were like a red drape waved in front of a sleepy bull, and were probably the main cause for such an overwhelming rejection. Never tell politicians that they don't matter; it's the best way to motivate them to prove you wrong.

tamasnet 14y ago

But given the overwhelming landslide-class majority by which the measure was rejected I think he'd need to be a grade-A asshat to try it again any time soon.

Silhouette 14y ago

I suspect De Gucht may have overestimated his influence here. He has also perhaps forgotten that his term of office is not so long and that the European Parliament could even hold up the appointment of the next Commission if it wanted to make a point about abuse of authority. (It did hold up the first Barroso commission in 2004, forcing a reshuffle of which commissioner was given which portfolio, so this is certainly not an idle threat for the Parliament to make, either.) [Borrowed from a HN comment I made about a week ago on this issue: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4161254 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4161254]

Tharkun 14y ago
The man is an idiot in the first place. He's being investigated in Belgium for tax fraud and insider trading. He also has a bad (for a diplomat) habit of speaking his mind, which has got him banned from Congo and has quite a few Jews frothing at the mouth. His opinion, in other words, is irrelevant. Let him bark. If he doesn't end up in prison of impoverished at the least the EU and Belgian parliaments will get him to pipe down a bit.

georgemcbay 14y ago

That was strategically a dumb comment he made, and given the results of the first vote he'd only harm himself politically if he followed through. Each time he refiled it and it was again soundly defeated it would just make him look increasingly like an ineffectual buffoon.