Eco Union

Milibland has found a new way to try and sell the EU.

David Miliband, the environment secretary, begins the eco-charm offensive at a Brussels renewable energy conference today as the European Union gears up for a climate change summit in March. "The European Union must become the Environmental Union," he writes in the February edition of the EU's E!Sharp magazine.

He is trying to use the latest climate change fashion to help the EU cause. The problem is, that the EU is not good for the environment, which is something we need to use as a counter argument. CAP has caused the death of millions of birds, incentivised over use of chemicals and generally damaged our countryside. CFP has denuded the sea of life, such that stocks may never recover. The European Parliament itself, moves back and forward between Brussels & Strasbourg, uselessly wasting energy in the process. In short, the EU has a terrible track record.

If emissions trading is you thing, then EU or no EU, a continent wide trading system is possible. If fact, as part of the EU, projects like this, are hostage to fortune, as members use them as bargaining chips, so as to win something elsewhere. As a stand alone project, that would not be possible.

If you believe in energy taxes as the way forward, then EU actions threaten our fiscal independence, even more so than currently. Regulations? All sentient beings are aware that regulations are the worst way forward, and EU wide ones the extreme. Unforeseen consequences cannot be tackled, as changes require unanimity, so bad regulations never die.

Mr Miliband is convinced that the fight against climate change will provide new legitimacy and a sense of purpose for the EU.

It could also, more logically provide a sense of purpose for a world government, but not even Mili is suggesting that. Funny how the EU project has been with us for so long, and the justification for its existence has changed so many times, one could almost think it is nothing more than a historical oddity, whose existence politicians are struggling to justify.