the sentence from brussels
WORKERS, OCT 2005 ISSUE
The European Court of Justice's ruling of 13 September gives the EU the power to jail British citizens. After a qualified majority vote (i.e., no British veto), the EU could now force all EU members to impose criminal penalties, including prison sentences, on their citizens for breaking EU rules. It could force British courts to imprison people, even if government, parliament and courts were opposed.
So, for example, refusal to implement the EU's absurd Physical Agents (Electromagnetic Fields) Directive, which bans medical workers from standing close to MRI scanners on health and safety grounds even though there is no evidence of risk, would become a criminal offence.
The European Commission welcomed the ruling. Its officials are already talking about introducing EU crimes and criminal penalties for various offences.
The Court always said its job was "overcoming the resistance of national governments to European integration". Its new ruling creates a body of European criminal law that all member states must adopt, which turns the EU into a single criminal jurisdiction. Despite the French and Dutch No votes, the EU is still making itself into a state.
We need the referendum on the Constitution, as the next step in our withdrawal from the EU.