Does the government want to infringe the Constitution?

Marian Miszalski

France and Germany are the most fervent advocates for creating a European superpower the constitution of which will be the Treaty of Lisbon. The increasing number of the opponents of such a superpower states that it would be only a mask for the German-French management of Europe according to their own interests and a convenient instrument of political trade of the interests of the smaller and weaker European countries, especially from Central-Eastern Europe. One can even hear some well-justified opinions that this is an old idea from the repertoire of the German politics: to make Central-Eastern Europe an area of cheap labour and market of sales for the German production. Apart from the Treaty of Lisbon (political instrument) a tool of economic domination in such a ‘field’ and in such a ‘market’ would be the common monetary unit – the euro, which deprives the present central national banks (including the National Bank of Poland) any influence on the monetary policy… Imposing the currency of euro on the countries that have preserved their own currencies so far becomes, besides the Treaty of Lisbon, a priority of Brussels, which means also of Berlin and Paris. In this context the government of Donald Tusk via the Ministry of Finance suggests that you can also introduce the euro in Poland… without changing the Constitution. This idea reminds us of the attempt to introduce the Treaty of Lisbon without a national referendum, i.e. completely ignoring the voice of the nation concerning this issue although the Polish Constitution clearly indicates, ‘nationwide referendum may be held in respect of matters of particular importance to the State (Article 125, 1) Can it be a more important matter than the decision to preserve or to give up national sovereignty? The next article of the Constitution explicitly states, ‘The President of the Republic shall ensure observance of the Constitution, safeguard the sovereignty’ (Article 126, 2). In spite of the strange, even suspicious, suggestions coming from Tusk’s government the introduction of the euro, regardless of the desired referendum, require changing the Constitution. Article 227 of the Constitution states, ‘The central bank of the State shall be the National Bank of Poland. It shall have the exclusive right to issue money as well as to formulate and implement monetary policy. The National Bank of Poland shall be responsible for the value of Polish currency.’ Even if the Central European Bank located in Frankfurt/Main authorised the National Bank of Poland to issue for the needs of Poland the euro in fixed amounts, the introduction of the euro would deprive the National Bank of Poland its constitutional ‘responsibility for the value of Polish currency’ since the amount and limits of this emission of the euro would be settled and imposed on Poland by the bank from Frankfurt! The clear conclusion is that the possible replacement of Polish zloty by the euro cannot be done without changing the present Constitution… In the meantime France, the main advocate for the Treaty of Lisbon and enlargement of the euro zone, has been seized by unprecedented wave of demonstrations, manifestations and strikes: in Paris and in over 200 French cities over 2.5 million Frenchmen took part in demonstrations and strikes and the support for President Sarkozy, which was over 60%, decreased to less than 30%. There has even appeared a new political-sociological ‘quality’: mass mockeries of Sarkozy, expressed by sending SMSes, carrying posters and hanging out leaflets with little elegant words. I am writing about that because the Polish public media ignored the news about these powerful manifestations of dissatisfaction and strikes in France on the pretext of fear that they would have destroyed the image of France that is supposed to be under the leadership of Sarkozy a happy advocate for the Treaty of Lisbon and the beneficial euro…But the basis of these powerful demonstrations is, on the contrary, the enormous dissatisfaction of the French because of high prices and unemployment which neither the European Union nor the euro protect them against. And as I am writing these words I can hear the announcements about similar strikes and demonstrations in Germany for the same reasons as in France… Some invisible hand of a censor in the alleged ‘mission’ of Polish public TV mercifully protects us against the pictures of the enormous dissatisfaction in France and Germany, the pillars of the EU and the euro – is that not out of fear that we doubt in the wonder and ‘the only rightness’ of the Brussels euro-recipe for prosperity?

"Niedziela" 14/2009

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl