Europe's NAFTA: the "Mediterranean Union"

This article from the BBC is a basic introduction to the Mediterranean Union:

Sarkozy opens Mediterranean talks

[...] French President Nicolas Sarkozy has opened a summit of 43 leaders in Paris to launch a new union between Europe and Mediterranean rim nations.

The union will tackle such issues as regional unrest, immigration and pollution.

Mr Sarkozy said its aim was to ensure the region's people could love each other instead of making war.

Earlier, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders expressed their optimism over the chances for Middle East peace.

Mr Sarkozy said the group "will build peace in the Mediterranean together, like yesterday we built peace in Europe".

Welcoming the presence of Arab states alongside Israel, Greece alongside Turkey and Morocco alongside Algeria, he added that the group would not be "north against south, not Europe against the rest... but united".

[...]

But critics have dismissed the new union as lacking substance, and diplomats say there are continuing disagreements over key issues such as how to address the Middle East peace process and a possible role for the Arab League.

The only leader boycotting the Paris meeting is Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has described the union as a new form of colonialism.

France and Egypt plan to co-chair the new organisation for the first few years.

[...]

Mr Sarkozy said the role of Europe and France was to help achieve peace through economic development, political initiatives and providing guarantees for all stakeholders.

He said the main problem was one of confidence.

"How can we achieve peace in this part of the world unless we build confidence, unless we extend the hand of peace and take the initiative?" he said. [...]

It all sounds very high minded. The article gives specific examples of some good things being achieved, and how the MU relates to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

I have posted previously about some people's concerns that there is a darker side to the Mediterranean Union, where it's laws and the European Unions laws could be merged, and used to stamp out free speech and political opposition.

World wide I expect we are going to see more joint political ventures such as NAFTA and the MU. There is potentially much to be gained by making cooperative agreements with neighboring countries. All such cooperative political entities can be used for good or bad purposes, depending on who is steering them, and to what ends. Like all things political, it needs to be watched and monitored. The stated goals are admirable, but it's the details, and how they are implemented, that are going to matter to the citizens of member countries.
     

European Union: becoming openly totalitarian?

Fjordman at the Brussels Journal makes the case that the European Union is swifty moving in that direction, as they attempt to form a "Mediteranian Union" that would consist of all the member states of the EU, and countries in North Africa and the Middle East. They would be united with the EU by shared laws, that could be used to silence and oppress millions:

European Parliament Bans Opposition

[...] What's worse is that the same EU leaders, including the British Foreign Minister, the French President and the German Chancellor, have officially announced the enlargement of the EU to include Muslim North Africa and the Middle East. A proposed European Arrest Warrant lists a number of crimes, including terrorism, armed robbery, rape, and racism and xenophobia, which are punishable throughout the EU. The European Arrest Warrant requires that anyone who is charged by a member state under the listed group of offenses (which could cover just about anything) may be arrested by the authorities of the issuing state within any other member state. The accused must then be transited for trial to the issuing state within ten days, without any interference, judicial or otherwise, by the executing state.

Racism includes "Islamophobia," according to numerous EU documents. Which means that "Islamophobia" will soon be treated as a crime as serious as rape and armed robbery across most of the European continent. At the same time, European leaders are busy enlarging the EU to include North Africa and the Middle East, thus flooding Europe with tens of millions of additional Muslims. Not far into the future, EU authorities can arrest a person in, say, Denmark or Italy, who has published a cartoon that could be considered offensive to Islam. He or she will then be quietly handed over to the authorities in Algeria, Egypt or Jordan. Remember that blasphemy against Islam potentially carries the death penalty according to sharia. Multiculturalism in Europe is thus reaching its openly totalitarian phase. Those who think this is a joke can look at the Dutch cartoonist who was arrested recently. Several documents that are publicly available (but little known by the general public because they are never referred to by the mainstream media) state that the EU should "harmonize" the education and legal systems with the Mediterranean "partner countries" within the coming decade. This is being negotiated as we speak, behind our backs. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Is this alarmist? I'm sure the Dutch cartoonist who's been arrested doesn't think so. If events continue to converge in the direction they are heading, I don't see how the above scenario would be avoidable. Rather, it would seem inevitable.

Some people think the Irish, who have an opportunity to vote against the Lisbon Treaty (because their constitution requires it), can save Europe from a takeover by the EU, but another article at the Brussels Journal says don't count on that:

Eurosceptics Are Wrong: Don’t Count on Ireland to Save Us from Brussels

There are indications that some Europeans are finding their backbone and using their local governments to speak up and react against this totalitarian threat. But will they do enough in time to make a difference?