Marta Andreasen today challenged David Cameron to come clean about what he plans to do to defend British justice.
In an open letter addressed to the Tory leader, the UK Independence Party euro-MP asked if he would veto the proposed European Public Prosecutor, if elected Prime Minister.
This figure created by the ratified Lisbon Treaty, would with the new European Legal office 'EuroJust' be able to bring direct prosecutions in the UK, contrary to our legal traditions and clearly against the will of the British public. However to create the figure requires unanimity in the European Council of Ministers and therefore a British Government would have the power to stop it.
She asks, "I write, therefore, to ask you if you will undertake now that the Conservative Party will include in its forthcoming manifesto for the 2010 General Election an unambiguous pledge to veto any proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor's Office if you become Prime Minister at the forthcoming general election, whether as the head of a government with a majority in Parliament or as head of a minority coalition government?
"If not, why not?"
"The public need to know whether they can trust the Tories to defend Britain's interests", she said.
Notes Below is the full text of Marta Andreasen's Letter
4 February 2010
Dear Mr. Cameron,
Re: The European Public Prosecutor (EPP)
On 12th January 2010 I asked Commissioner-designate Algirdas Šemeta, during his confirmation hearings before the Budgetary Control Committee (of which I am a member), if he plans to establish the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPP) as provided for in the Lisbon Treaty.
His response was that "we should move forward". He further confirmed that it is also being discussed by other members of the European Commission. This means that such a plan is already Commission policy and that it will be implemented regardless of who is confirmed in due course as Taxation and Anti-Fraud Commissioner. This reply, and the implications thereof, and the absence of any firm denial leave no doubt that European Commission and the Budgetary Control Commissioner intend to bring forward such a plan in the very near future and that planning is already well advanced.
As you know, Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), provides for the possible establishment of the Office of European Public Prosecutor from EUROJUST. For such a proposal to become law, however, there must be unanimity in the Council: in other words, the United Kingdom retains a veto on the creation of an EPP. This requirement puts the United Kingdom in a very strong position to prevent the creation of such a post when it is presented to the Council.
The concept of a European Public Prosecutor is, I am sure, entirely repugnant to the British people. Furthermore, when it has been raised in the past, the UK government, recognising the hostility of Britons to it, has signified its clear dissent to the proposal.
It will create, for the first time, a criminal jurisdiction at the EU level.
As importantly, the proposed body of law to accompany these proposals, the so-called "Corpus Juris", threatens to usurp the 800-year old system of the Common Law in England & Wales and its Scottish counterpart. It is even more objectionable when the Treaty provisions for the rules of evidence and judicial review are taken into account. Those most certainly will not be based on either the English or Scottish legal systems with the traditional
rights and protections that Britons are used to.
May I remind you that such proposals were never contemplated by the British people in 1975 when they voted to remain in what was then the EEC.
I write, therefore, to ask you if you will undertake now that the Conservative Party will include in its forthcoming manifesto for the 2010 General Election an unambiguous pledge to veto any proposal to establish a European Public Prosecutor's Office if you become Prime Minister at the forthcoming general election, whether as the head of a government with a majority in Parliament or as head of a minority coalition government?
If not, why not?
I call upon you to make clear your position on this most important matter before the upcoming election campaign, so that British voters might judge your promises to prevent further such powers being transferred to Brussels.
Yours sincerely,
Marta Andreasen
Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England
UK Independence Party
