EU Plans Penalties For Parties Who Don’t Participate in “the Values of the EU"

Im Bild die dänische Regierungs-Chefin Helle Thorning-Schmidt
und Martin Schulz. (Foto: Europäisches Parlament)

Edit: anyone familiar with Europe’s incitement of racial hatred laws can’t possibly believe in such a thing as free speech for Europe any more, if it ever really existed.

[Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten] Die EU-Commission has taken up a proposal of the socialists in Europe’s Parliament.  According to this future parties, which “do not respect EU values”, will receive fines.  The group of Austrian Hannes Swoboda wants to prevent that “right radical or anti-foreigner” parties entering into parliament.

In the European Parliament there are at the present 13 member parties.  They represent in total 31 million Euro in party financing.  In the future should it be possible, the parliament will be able to exclude parties from this financing.

In Denmark the proposal is being rebuffed.  The current Europe Minister, Nicolai Wammen, has been asked of several parties, to only affirm this ruling, if it could be previously defined, what “values” it concretely holds.

As the Danish website information.dk reports, Lykke Friis, the speaker for Danish Liberals said, there must be objective criteria, in order to prevent that the ruling can be abused as a “vendetta” against opposing points of view.  The Green Nicholas Villumsen said:  “that would be the case, as the parliament would impose punishments against parties with false opinions. It is very concerning that the European Parliament Parties will be punished for their convictions.”

Wammen appeased the critics and said the rules will not be directed against parties, which only participate in national politics.  Otherwise it only relates to the “fundamental foundations of democracy, the due process and respect for minorities.”

Actually such a regulation is very dangerous.  It opens the floodgates of political pressure on conscience.  Because furthermore, what values mean, can mean very different things to different people. In a tense climate of crisis such a ruling may make EU critics stifled. The right to freedom of expression may be put under pressure by such a ruling.

A prohibition with a penalty of certain opinions will lead above all so that thought is also limited.  One of the advantages of democracy is that one can speak his opinion and can form political groups freely, so long as they act within the bounds of the law.

“Values” on the other hand are not clearly cut, democratically approved laws.  They are often hazy and may,  as they are according to linguistic or cultural backgrounds, often not clearly defined.

The compulsion, to believe in “values” is undemocratic.

It is the foyer to a totalitarian system.

It is dangerous -- and on top of everything unnecessary: already today the European Parliament has the possibility,  to prove especially distinctive speech with punishment:  So, Nigel Farage has had to pay a 3,000 [2,700] Euro fine, that he had described EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy as having the “Charisma of a wet rag”.

In the future such a rebuff could also be punishable under the EU canon of values.

Earlier. this was described as an insult against the monarchy.

Those were, in any case, in a pre-Democratic age. [Oh, the irony]

Link to original...

Edit: just whose values are we talking about?  There’s no free speech for those who have differing views or even question historical events of 60 year ago.