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The European Union in the Interests of the United States?

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The European Union in the Interests of the United States? Heritage Special Report SR-10 Published by The Heritage Foundation September 12, 2006 Is the European Union in the Interests of the United States? A CONFERENCE HELD JUNE 28, 2005 GLOBAL BRITAIN Is the European Union in the Interests of the United States? June 28, 2005 Contributors Listed in order of appearance: John Hilboldt Director, Lectures and Seminars, The Heritage Foundation Becky Norton Dunlop Vice-President for External Relations, The Heritage Foundation Senator Gordon Smith United States Senator for Oregon Lord Pearson of Rannoch House of Lords Christopher Booker Journalist and Editor The Rt. Hon. David Heathcoat-Amory MP House of Commons Daniel Hannan, MEP Member of the European Parliament Stephen C. Meyer, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute Yossef Bodansky Former Director, Congressional Task Force against Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare John C. Hulsman, Ph.D. Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation Ruth Lea Director, Centre for Policy Studies Diana Furchtgott-Roth Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute Ian Milne Director, Global Britain Mark Ryland Vice President, Discovery Institute Marek Jan Chodakiewicz Research Professor of History, Institute of World Politics Kenneth R. Weinstein, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer, Hudson Institute Judge Robert H. Bork Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D. Vice President, Davis Institute for International Studies, The Heritage Foundation Edwin Meese III Chairman, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation Questions from Audience Listed in order of appearance: Paul Rubig Member of the European Parliament Ana Gomes Member of the European Parliament Sarah Ludford Member of the European Parliament Michael Cashman Member of the European Parliament Tom Ford United States Department of Defense Bill McFadden Unknown Helle Dale Heritage Foundation © 2006 by The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002–4999 (202) 546-4400 • heritage.org Contents Welcome and Keynote Address . 1 Panel One: The European Union: “The Nature of the Beast . 6 Panel Two: The Atlantic Alliance and National Security . 20 Panel Three: The European Union's Impact on U.S. Business . 34 Panel Four: The View from Europe . 45 Panel Five: European Courts Establishing Precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court . 52 Closing Remarks . 62 The sponsoring organizations extend special thanks to Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Global Britain for their leadership in presenting this conference and for kindly providing the transcript published here. June 2005 There could not be a better time to open a debate in Washington DC on the impact on the United States of developments within the European Union. The current saga of the European Constitution provides a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the minds of the European political and bureaucratic elites. The Constitution which these elites designed takes the continent in a fundamentally new direction. It requires the full endorsement of every Member State. Yet how have the elites reacted when first the French, and then the Dutch, peoples rejected the proposals in nationwide votes? Have they accepted that the Constitution cannot now be ratified? Not at all. They argue that ratification must continue in all Member States no matter what the cost or the waste of resources. With such a blatant disregard of democratic will is it any surprise that people so distrust the direction in which the European Union is heading? Just as the people of Europe must now ask searching questions, it is equally right that decision makers in the United States assess the consequences of a more bureaucratic, more centralised Europe, where issues such as foreign policy and defence are increasingly decided in Brussels rather than by national governments. What will be the effect on the NATO Alliance? Or for American/ EU cooperation on issues such as fighting international terrorism, on stemming nuclear proliferation, or on managing the transition of China towards growing political, economic and military power? Let alone on wider questions of free trade? So this conference is timely and I hope that it will focus greater attention on the need to strengthen our Atlantic ties rather than weaken them as we face a more uncertain world. Welcome and Keynote Address JOHN HILBOLDT: At The Heritage Foundation, limited government, individual freedom, free enterprise, tradi- tional American values, and strong national defense are fundamental and guiding principles. We are pleased today to co-host an all day conference on the future direction, and indeed the wisdom of a European Union and its place in advancing the fundamentals of freedom, opportunity, prosperity and civil society that we at Heritage envision, not just for America, but for all the nations around the world. Hosting this morning’s first address is Becky Norton Dun- lop. Mrs. Dunlop is Vice President for External Relations here at The Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining the Foun- dation she was Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Cabinet of Governor (and now Senator) George Allen. In addition to serving in the Reagan Administration as a Deputy Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, Special Assistant to the President and Director of his Cabinet office, and a Senior Special Assis- tant to the Attorney General, Edwin Meese, Mrs. Dunlop was Deputy Undersecretary at the Department of the Interior and Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. She currently serves as a board member for numerous public pol- icy organizations and associations, and directs Heritage’s national and international outreach to conservative move- ment organizations and policy leaders. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my colleague, Becky Norton Dunlop. BECKY NORTON DUNLOP: Thank you very much, John, and let me add my words of welcome on behalf of my colleagues at The Heritage Foundation, Dr. Edwin Feulner, our President, and all of the rest of us here who so much appreciate our friends coming across the Atlantic Ocean to visit with us. I’m also delighted to tell you this morning that The Heritage Foundation is going to be establishing a Margaret Thatcher Freedom Center. And the purpose of this Margaret Thatcher Freedom Center will be to house and promote and advance the ideas of liberty that Prime Minister Thatcher—and now Baroness Thatcher—has championed throughout her life. This program that we are hosting today is really the first program that we are able to hold under the auspices of the Margaret Thatcher Freedom Center, and I would like to share with you what Baroness Thatcher wrote in a letter to us today. I just want to read briefly from it: There could not be a better time to open a debate in Washington D.C. on the impact on the United States of developments within the European Union. Then she talks about the current state of the European Constitution, and she goes on to say Just as the people of Europe must now ask searching questions, it is equally right that decision makers in the United States assess the consequences of a more bureaucratic, more centralised Europe, where issues such as foreign policy and defence are increasingly decided in Brussels rather than by national govern- ments. What will be the effect on the NATO Alliance? Or for American/EU cooperation on issues such as fighting international terrorism, on stemming nuclear proliferation, or on managing the transition of China towards growing political, economic and military power? Let alone on wider questions of free trade? So this conference is timely, and I hope that it will focus greater attention on the need to strengthen our Atlantic ties rather than weaken them, as we face a more uncertain world. So I’m delighted to share that letter and make that announcement about the Margaret Thatcher Freedom Center. As John mentioned, I did serve in the Reagan Administration where we talked a lot about federalism—the con- cept of federalism as it was discussed by our founders. And, in fact, I always like to pull out my little copy of the U.S. Constitution, and remind everyone that the Tenth Amendment is still there. And the Tenth Amendment of the Con- stitution of the United States—which, as you can see, is very brief —says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Now, ladies and gentlemen, if, in a Constitution of this size, we have this very explicit language, and yet even today the balance of power in the United States has shifted tremendously from the states to the central government in Washington D.C. I think it is right that all of us, those in Europe, in the nation states of Europe, ask themselves how can the rights of the nations and the rights of the free people in Europe be protected in a Constitution which 1 Is the European Union in the Interests of the United States is so voluminous that most people have not even read it. Fortunately, I think we can say that the people of France and the Dutch people made a wise decision in their rejection of that Constitution. We are very fortunate this morning to be able to kick off the conference with a very learned, interested and great leader of our country, Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon. Senator Gordon Smith is from the west of the United States of America, but he has long had a personal interest in European history. He studied European history in college, and during his time in the Senate, he has served as chairman of the Europe Sub-Committee of the Senate Foreign Rela- tions Committee. He did that for six years and now he has moved on to other assignments, which are many. He serves on four major Senate committees: Commerce, Science and Transportation, Energy and Natural Resources, Indian Affairs, and the Finance Committee.
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