Would Elizabeth Windsor please present herself to Committe Room P4B001

The European Parliament is set to give itself sweeping powers of investigation. In a report penned by David Martin, the Labour Glaswegian MEP named this,

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament on the detailed provisions governing the exercise of the European Parliament's right of inquiry replacing the Decision of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 19 April 1995

What this means in reality is the following,

Any EU citizen could be summoned to testify at request of the committee. Witnesses could be asked to speak under oath...

EU and Member States' officials may also be asked to speak before the inquiry committee, MEPs propose, and the committee would be able to ask the advice of experts during its investigations

They can refuse, but they would have to explain why. What this would mean in practice is that the European Parliament could summon any Prime Minister to explain their economic policy or any pother, renditions say, or security matters, and in extremis it could summon the Queen, as under the EU's own Treaties the Queen is merely another EU citizen.

I can quite see the situation where out of malice a bunch of continental communists could, just out of a sense of malice demand that the Queen appear in front of them to explain the reciept of CAP funds in the Royal Estates.

Of course the Queen would no doubt refuse, but they would be able to create maximum embarrasment for minimum cost.

David Martin should be shipped in through Traitor's Gate just for thinking this idiocy up.

The European parliament invites you to present yourself

Just listen to this, David Martin a Scottish Labour type seems to be suggesting that if somebody (most liklely a civil servant, but not necessarily so) refuses to accept the Parliament's invitation to appear then they can get the British authorities to take them to court.

Imagine you are a lets say, a banker and they want to haul you over the coals for having the temerity to run a sucessful bank. They say they want to speak to you.

You refuse, you are too busy creating employment after all.

They then instruct the British authorities to take you to Court....

The mind boggles.