“Only recently the European Commission has appointed the Czech PR Agency “Via Perfecta ”to be in charge of the EU information and communication strategy in the Czech Republic (and funded it).However, this agency is led by a wife of one prominent and most pro-european politician in the CR. This implies possible misuse of the EU funds for self-promotion of certain politicians or political opinions that are familiar to the EU bureaucracy.”
Jan Zahradil, MP – Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the ODS Party in the Czech Republic
“It is now clear that not only the European Commission but the British Council, under the direction of the Foreign Office, is funding a European Resource Centre, which is cover for an EU propaganda unit.”
The Rt Hon. David Heathcoat-Amory, MP – Convention on the Future of Europe
“In a referendum people should have the right to hear both sides of the argument in a balanced and fair manner. I took the Irish government to court because they not only restricted the voters access to balanced information, but they used the voter’s own money to persuade them to vote in a particular way. In a referendum the people are being asked for their opinion. This process is made pointless if having asked for their opinion you then tell them there is only one answer they can give and you use their money to convince them that this is true.”
Patricia McKenna, MEP – Green Party Member of the European Parliament representing Dublin
“There is no doubt a lot of money is being poured out from Europe through our Universities, through the media and many other channels to persuade the British people to accept a European identity that they instinctively reject. Most of the spending is a scandalous waste of money.”
The Rt Hon. Lord Lamont of Lerwick – Chancellor of the Exchequer (1990 – 1993)
“It is absurd and abuse of taxpayers ’money, yet each year more and more is spent by the European Commission in its bid to con the European public into thinking that a deeper federal Europe is the only way forward.”
Chris Heaton-Harris, MEP –Conservative Spokesman on Budgetary Control in the European Parliament
“The European Commission office in Copenhagen works entirely for the Yes side and we even experienced in the 1980 ’s that the Office sent insulting letters about the No side to editors and political opponents without informing us.”
Jens-Peter Bonde, MEP -Danish “No ”Campaigner
“A group of deputies from various parliamentary groups proposed in January a motion for an urgent EU referendum. However, it was voted down by the Chamber. This debate on the motion has so far been the fairest discussion of EU pros and cons. We are now collecting a half a million signatures for a motion to hold an EU referendum. Meanwhile the government started last month its 1 m Euro promotional campaign to convince Poles that the terms of EU membership, still under negotiation, are advantageous for Poland.”
Jan Lopuszanski, MP – Member of the Sejm Committee for Foreign Affairs, (Parliamentary Group of the League of Polish Families (LPR) and Chairman of the Polish Alliance (PP))
“European propaganda is organised according to a methodical plan. One of its principal victims in France is the University. The purpose of the Jean Monnet Chairs, to which Brussels devotes each year four million euros, is to teach European integration, imposing federalist contents on the lessons in all the fields of social sciences: history, law, political science, economy, etc …”
“Control by the European Commission takes the form of a scientific committee carefully selected by the Commission, which validates the attribution of the “Jean Monnet ” labels and grants subsidies only to the teachers who present sufficient political guarantees on the matter. Thus, not only those which receive these subsidies become a client of the European Commission, but those which do not receive the hope they’ll obtain some if they are nice enough to Brussels.”
“This system is a very serious breach in the principle of University independence, which in France is of a Constitutional nature. More broadly, it is clear that much support to European integration is bought with subsidies. It is paradoxical to see that these subsidies whose ultimate purpose is to destroy the Nations are ratified by the Council when it approves the Commission's Budget”.
Georges Berthu, MEP – French MEP and Minister for Administrative Reform (1986-1987), Senior Administrator at the Ministry of Finance (1991-1994)
“There is a point which puzzles me somewhat. Whenever a referendum in favour or against the EU has been held, one can see an enormous gap between the media, 90% of which has often supported the EU, and the ordinary citizens, who at times have made up even more than 50% in terms of votes against. This shows that the media, far from reflecting European public opinion, exert a considerable pressure on it, distorting the foundations of democracy. This makes one not only puzzled, but also seriously concerned.”
Roberto de Mattei – Special Advisor to the Italian Deputy Prime Minister
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- NOTES TO EDITORS -
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The supporting statements were made specifically in support of the Bruges Group Occasional Paper Federalist Thought Control: The Brussels Propaganda Machine
An on-line version is available on www.brugesgroup.com