EU Navy Blues

Backdoor moves by Brussels to set up an EU navy by stealth has been thrown in the open with the hunt for a missing yacht couple kidnapped by Somali pirates. But did anyone know we had an EU navy at all? The Senior Service is overstretched and over there.

BBC News has been quite brazen, flagging up the 'EU navy task force' on the look out for Somali pirates. Other news organisations are keen to keep the Royal Navy flag flying.

An EU navy swooping on the poor souls escaping for a better life in the Med or running down drug smugglers is one thing. But in the middle of the Indian Ocean? What did they do take a wrong turn at Suez?

The ships looks like ships of the Royal Navy. No doubt crews have HMS hats. But these are EU ships, under EU political control, all part of the EU's first naval task force, Operation Atalanta.

Brown's Navy cuts have already bitten deep. Now it seems all eggs have been thrown into the EU basket. The Senior Service is overstretched and over there chasing pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Who's left protecting UK coastal waters? What happens if someone invades Gibraltar - or the Falklands?

Crafty moves by the European Commission to set up an EU "coastguard", drew fire a couple of years ago with critics warning this was a back-door ploy by Brussels to build up an EU navy by stealth, with its own powers to stop and search shipping.

The MoD website has been quite open about it. Proudly declaring in 2008 that the Royal Navy's Rear Admiral Phil Jones took charge of "the EU led counter-piracy naval operation," which is to operate off the coast of Somalia. 


But what legal base is the EU using? Which Treaty has been used? Certainly not the new Lisbon treaty because it hasn't been bulldozed through yet. When were people given a say to commit UK forces to action under the command of the EU?

Do ships fly the Royal Ensign, the EU flag or mixture of both (top picture)? Do they take orders from some bod in the Admiralty or a braided Eurocrat in Brussels. Who gives the order to open fire?

Brussels empire building knows no bounds. The phantom force is on the march. The Orange Party was always suspicious of the spin the new EU treaty was "just a tidying up exercise".

You can see where this is going. A frigate in action here, a Euro fighter in action there. All dressed up with EU charm, using the cover of tackling 'piracy', 'drug smugglers' and 'international terrorism'.

But they come on the back of other empire building moves by Brussels, including the planned EU land army.

The country that fought a hot war against Hitler and a cold war against Khrushchev is now being dragged towards an EU superstate with new powers over defence and foreign policy.

A totalitarian dictatorship for the 21st century. A Euro Army with an unelected warmongering El Presidente Blair in charge of the new Empire and we'll be Back in the EUSSR.