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§ The vast majority of these European courts -- whether the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) or the Court of Justice of the European Union
(CJEU) -- in their attempt to be moral and just, have dismissed the sovereign
laws of Italy as irrelevant, and trampled the rights of the Italian state and
ordinary Italians to approve who enters their country.
§ In Europe, Amnesty International and the like are, it seems, a new
source of law.
§ Those who gave the Statue of Liberty to America in 1886 "to
commemorate the perseverance of freedom and democracy in the United
States" are willingly trampling their own people's liberties today through
courts of appointed, unelected, unaccountable ideologues. The danger is that,
with the help of many doubtless well-intentioned, international NGOs, the EU
will not stop at its shores.
Europe is the worst enemy of the US? You cannot be serious.
Islamism, Russia, illegal immigrants... whatever, but surely not Europe! Are we
not still together in NATO? Do we not conduct huge amounts of trade every day?
Do we not share the same cultural roots, the same civilization, the same vision
of the future? Did France not give the US her
famous Statue of Liberty – "Liberty Enlightening the World?"
Not anymore. In a sense, Europe looks like a continent where
American Democrats have been in power for 30 years, not only in the European
states, but also at the level of the European Union.
In the US, the political spectrum still spans a vast range of
views between Democrats and Republicans, globalists and nationalists,
pro-lifers and pro-choicers, pro-government control and pro-individuals'
control, and pro-whatever. Even today with a president and a Supreme Court
clearly on the political "Right" these divisions, and the
all-important separation of powers, allow for and encourage vigorous debate. By
contrast, in Europe, at the "official" level, such a spectrum of
views no longer exists.
In Western Europe, politically speaking, in the press and in
universities, either you are on the "Left," or you are a pariah. If
you are a pariah, you are most likely to be prosecuted for
"Islamophobia", "racism", discrimination or some other
"trumped up" charge.
There are several reasons for this imbalance. One is the
difference in political maturity between Europeans and Americans. Whereas
"ordinary" American voters (not just the "elites")
understand that their Supreme Court is key to ensuring that fundamental
constitutional freedoms are maintained for all, the Europeans have done the
opposite. In the US, the constitutional right
to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is derived from the
people -- "from the consent of the governed."
Consequently, when Justice Antonin Scalia of the US Supreme Court
died, the US press wrote about him for weeks. "Ordinary citizens" in
the US are deeply aware of judicial roles and their effect on judgements and
legal precedents.
By contrast, in Europe, we now have two Supreme Courts: the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, and the Court of Justice
of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg, in addition to national courts.
There is, however, not one citizen in a million who can name a single judge of
either the ECHR or the CJEU. The reason is that the nomination of those judges
is mostly opaque, purely governmental and, in the instance of the ECHR, with no
public debate. With the CJEU, appointments are also essentially governmental,
with the sanction of the European Parliament, which is ideologically dominated
by the Left.
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The US has always welcomed immigrants, most of whom came to her
shores via Ellis Island and went through a legal process for entry, led by the
light of the torch of Lady Liberty. In recent years, especially since the
advent of increased terrorism, the subject of illegal immigrants, migrant
workers and the vetting of immigrants has become hotly debated.
By contrast, in Europe, the topic of "illegal" migrants
is effectively forbidden. The continent has recently been invaded by millions
of migrants -- many apparently arriving under the false pretense of being
refugees, even according to the
United Nations.
One of the reasons is the open-door policy of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, who allowed over a million mostly Muslim migrants to enter
Germany, not only without extreme vetting, but with no vetting at all.
There is, however, another, more structural cause for the current
situation. In 2012, the ECHR enacted the so-called "HIRSI" ruling,
named after the court case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy,
which states that the European states have the legal obligation to
rescue migrants wherever they find them in the Mediterranean Sea -- even just
200 meters away from the Libyan coast -- and ferry them to the European shores,
so that these people can claim the status of refugee.
When the Italian Navy intercepted illegal migrants in the
Mediterranean Sea and sent them back to their point of origin, Libya, not only
did the ECHR condemn Italy for this "obvious" breach of human rights;
the Italians had to pay 15,000 euros ($17,000 USD) to each of these illegal
migrants in the name of "moral damage". This kind of money is
equivalent to more than 10 years of income in Somalia and Eritrea (the countries
of origin of Mr. Hirsi Jamaa and his companions). In 2016, Somalia's GDP per capita was
an estimated $400 USD; Eritrea's $1,300.
Everyone, of course, heard about the HIRSI ruling. In Africa,
especially, many understood that if they could reach the Mediterranean,
Europe's navies would now be obliged to ferry them directly to Europe. Before
the HIRSI ruling, when people tried to reach the shores of Europe, hundreds
every year tragically died at sea. After HIRSI, the objective is now simply to
be intercepted. Consequently, hundreds of thousands attempt this journey --
often with the help of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Médecins Sans Frontières, whose
activists wait for boats to appear at sea, just off the Libyan coast. We
therefore presently have 5,000 unintercepted people dying at sea every
year.
While Italy is "drowning" in refugees, Austria has deployed
armored vehicles close to its border with Italy, to stop more migrants from
coming north.
The vast majority of these European courts -- whether the ECHR or
the CJEU -- in their attempt to be moral and just, have dismissed the sovereign
laws of Italy as irrelevant, and trampled the rights of the Italian state and
ordinary Italians to approve who enters their country.
Americans would do well to read the HIRSI decision; it is
rather short and a perfect summary of current European jurisprudence. They will
find that the ECHR does not hesitate to accept NGOs as an authoritative part of
the process; the ECHR even quotes their statements as if fact or law. In
Europe, Amnesty International and the like are, it appears, a new source of
law.
The European people, of course, still share the common values of
Western civilization. The "Visegrad Group" of countries in Central
Europe, for instance -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia -- do not accept the German
diktat to relocate Muslim refugees. Parts of Western Europe, such as the
northern Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, are also pretty tired of the
whole European mess, and Merkel will not embody the leadership of Germany
forever.
Americans, therefore, would do well to understand that for the
time being the "Cultural Left" is so deeply entrenched in Western
Europe and the EU, that their worst ideological enemy is not the Middle East or
Russia: it is Europe.
Those who gave the Statue of Liberty to America in 1886 "to
commemorate the perseverance of freedom and democracy in the United
States" are willingly trampling their own people's liberties today through
courts of appointed, unelected, unaccountable ideologues. The danger is, with
the help of many, doubtless well-intentioned, international NGOs, the EU will
not stop at its shores.
Drieu Godefridi, a classical-liberal Belgian author, is the
founder of the l'Institut Hayek in Brussels. He has a PhD in Philosophy from
the Sorbonne in Paris and also heads investments in European companies.
