EXCLUSIVE. OH LOOK THE EU has quietly created a 5th ‘freedom’
UK parliament loses yet more sovereignty as have all the other 27 countries in the EU.
As if four ‘freedoms’ weren’t enough, the EU has added a fifth without you knowing
Two weeks ago the EU announced that its fifth ‘freedom’ — the free movement of data — is now law.
Given the trouble that the first four freedoms have caused — including the free movement of people — readers might have thought this was worthy of a mention by the BBC. Disappointingly but perhaps not surprisingly this was not the case. Here I bring you a summary of this extraordinary development.
Existing EU ideology defines the freedom of movement of:
- Goods
- Services
- Capital
- People
Now they have added.
5. “The free movement of data”
What is this all about?
The EU operates in stages and by stealth through obfuscation. If it wants to control and centralize something big, it breaks it down into smaller components and attacks each one in turn. This is the case with its new ‘fifth freedom’.
The latest law is about ‘non-personal’ data. However, there has already been a new EU law about personal data which came into force in May 2018. One of the most obvious manifestations of this to most readers will be the annoying boxes which pop up when you visit a new site, asking you to approve the site’s data policy.
Amongst other things, the new EU law prohibits national rules requiring that data be stored or processed in a specific member state. In other words, it stops the UK from having its own rules on data and how it is used, but lets bodies from other EU countries have access to it.
It is important to recognize that whilst the new law is about non-personal data, the laws on personal data have already been passed. Taken together, readers will see why the EU is celebrating ‘fifth freedom’.
The EU’s latest announcement
The new law came into force two weeks ago. Below are some excerpts from the EU Commission’s new guide on interpreting the two laws — the existing one on the free movement of personal data and the new one on the free movement of non-personal data.
“There is now a comprehensive framework for a common European data space and the free movement of all data within the European Union.
Together, the Free Flow of Non-Personal Data Regulation and the General Data Protection Regulation are building the foundation for the free flow of all data within the European Union
”Thanks to the two Regulations, data can flow freely between the Member States, allowing users of data processing services to use the data gathered in different EU markets”
With regard to the principle of free movement of personal data, Article 1(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation provides that
‘the free movement of personal data within the Union shall be neither restricted nor prohibited for reasons connected with the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data’.
How does this affect the UK?
Below is the graphic that was used by the EU as its headline picture for an early press release from the EU Commission which we reported on in October last year. This was one of the two main featured stories that day. Impossible to miss, unless you’re the BBC and don’t want to report it?
Readers will not need ME to point out the connecting wire from the UK plugs into Germany. And yet when this story was published the UK was supposed to be leaving the EU in March before this law was due to come into effect.
BBC News had another chance to report on this when the EU Council approved the law on 09 November 2018.
They then had a further opportunity when the law officially came into force two weeks ago. Instead, there has been silence.
Firstly, the term ‘fifth freedom’ is a misnomer
In reality, what it means is that the EU has grabbed another aspect of the lives of EU citizens and companies and brought it under central control. Rather than being freedom, this is, in fact, another straitjacket, overriding the ability of individual member countries to control their own affairs.
Just as with the free movement of people, it represents a loss of sovereignty and democratic control, not a new ‘freedom’.
I think this was important news, and I reported it at the time. Readers might have thought that the creation by the EU of a fifth ‘freedom’ — to add its previous tally of four — might be something which is relevant to the UK and worth reporting by the BBC, Sky News, and ITN. Sadly not.
The four ‘freedoms’ played an important part in the British people’s reasons for wanting to leave this ideological organization which seeks to create a United States of Europe. Freedom of movement has been roundly rejected by the British people, and the freedom of movement of services doesn’t even exist, according to the EU’s own reports and that of the OECD.
The four freedoms also played a major role in the Brexit negotiations, with Barnier continually stressing their ‘indivisibility’.
Yet another loss of sovereignty
Here we have clear evidence of yet another power grab by the EU which simply adds to the enormous weight of evidence to show where this Brussels edifice is heading.
In effect, the EU has removed from the British parliament its ability to legislate on data protection. We would suggest that this demonstrates that:
- The EU won’t stop until it controls all aspects of the lives of the peoples of 28 nations
2. It remains hell-bent on creating an EU superstate
3. The unelected Commission came up with this new law, being the only body that can do so
4. The UK Parliament and its MPs are powerless against this
What price democracy and the sovereignty of Parliament?
Today we must ask: where are the howls of outrage from the Remain MPs who constantly and hypocritically cry out about democracy, the supremacy of Parliament, and a (third) ‘people’s vote’?
Sadly there will be none
[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Parliament | EU Council | EU’s Lex legal database ]
