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Is the European Union beginning to disintegrate?

Spain has become the most recent nation to threaten a Brexit-style exit from the European Union amid anger over a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling last Thursday that a jailed Catalanseparatist leader should not have been stripped of parliamentary immunity, overruling Spanish courts on the subject.

Oriol Junqueras and nine other Catalan separatist leaders were jailed in 2017 for their role in an illegal independence referendum. Junqueras is currently serving a 13-year prison term for sedition, but was still elected as a Member of European Parliament (MEP) last May. Last Thursday, the ECJ ruled that Junqueras should be immediately released and allowed to take his seat in European Parliament in Brussels.

The ruling has many Spaniards up in arms, especially those in the right-wing Vox Party, which is now under serious pressure to back a Spanish version of the Brexit referendum. The president of the Vox Party, Santiago Abascal, criticized the ruling and said plainly that Spain should not have to comply with the ECJs ruling.

Abascal went on to say that Spain needs to confront this interference from the EU and that the Vox Party is not going to accept more humiliations of this type from the government in Brussels or the ECJ in Luxembourg.

Spain, (as other countries do) should not abide by any judgment of those who attack our sovereignty and security, Abascal tweeted.

The Vox Party is currently the third-largest party in Spain, but has seen a surge of support over the past year. Among its tenets are a repatriation of sovereign powers from Brussels back to the national governments. Vox has not officially backed the Spaxit movement yet, but grassroots pressure is urging them to do so. Incidents such as this with the EU.attempting to strongarm the release of a person convicted of sedition wont bolster the blocs popularity.

Everyday Spanish people seem to be getting on board with an exit from the Big Brother EU as the hashtag #Spaxit even became trending on Twitter.

And Spain is not the only EU nation becoming tired of the intrusive reach of Brussels. Just last week, EU judges hinted that Poland might have to leave the bloc if recent judicial reform proposals are accepted. Among the reforms is a proposal that judges could be removed if they question government reforms.

Poland has already been referred to the ECJ regarding its rules for judges.

Polands ruling party,Law and Justice, argues that reforms to the judiciary are needed in order to battle corruption and overhaul the judicial system, which the new ruling party claims is still influenced by the Communist era of the country. One of the ways that the reforms attempted to address this was to lower the retirement ages for judges in an effort to root out communist holdover judges.

Polands National Judicial Council (NCJ) has already been suspended from membership in the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary.

With Polands reluctance to becomepolitically correct on many issues and their obvious distaste for their communist past, the EU might be in the position of having to demand the Poles leave the bloc before the Polish citizens demand the separation.

Spain, Poland, and all nations of the European Union have their own specific cultures, which are important to them. The EUs insistence on political correctness, its leftist cultural leanings, and its love for mass immigration are starting to wear on everyday Europeans.

Spain wants to jail people it considers seditious. Poland wants to reform its own judicial system. The EUs insistence on butting in on the internal affairs of its members is endangering its own existence.

Euroscepticism, a European political movement that advocates for countries to disengage from the European Union, is on the rise in many nations in the bloc. Having witnessed Great Britains current attempt to remove herself from entanglement with the EU has inspired movements all over Europe to do the same.

Spain, Poland, and other current EU nations will be watching the British experiment in leaving the union very carefully. The United Kingdoms success or failure in standing on its own feet again without Big Brother Europe watching over it will likely be a key in whether the European Union can stay viable going forward.

Photo: ktsimage/iStock/Getty Images Plus

James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects with a primary focus on the ongoing anthropogenic climate-change hoax and cultural issues. He can be reached atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Spaxit? Will Spain Now Leave the European Union? - The New American

ZAGREB, December 22, 2019 - A survey shows that more than 40 percent of Croatians have a positive opinion about the European Union, while as many as 81 percent know that Croatia is taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first time on January 1, 2020, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Sunday.

The survey, financed by the EU, was carried out by the IPSOS Puls agency between November 27 and December 3. A total of 1,005 Croatians took part in the survey.

If a referendum on accession to the EU were to be held today, 68 percent of the respondents would be in favour and 28 percent would vote against. In 2012, 67 percent of those who went to the polls supported accession to the EU and 33 percent were against it.

As many as 43 percent of the respondents see the EU in a positive light, mostly those in the 18 - 30 age group.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

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More Croats Support European Union Today Than at 2012 Referendum - Total Croatia News

Sir, Whatever about the benefits for the UK of accomplishing its paramount aim of extricating itself from the single market arrangements, as outlined by D.R. Cooper (Letters, December 23rd), Ireland has been utterly transformed since becoming a member of the European Union. The changes can be seen in terms of physical and legislative infrastructure, not to mention the many fine houses built throughout the country.

Workers rights, womens rights, manufacturing and food standards have all been vastly improved.

Foreign investment in Ireland, no doubt helped by our EU membership, has been among the worlds highest. Pre-1973, our exports, a high percentage of which were food and agriculture, including live cattle, depended 90 per cent on the UK market.

The UK now takes some 13 per cent of total visible exports and 16 per cent of our services exports.

Whatever shape Brexit takes, the UK will still be an important market for Ireland as the UK misguidedly, in my opinion, turns its back on its major customers in Europe in search of a 21st-century El Dorado in the Americas. Yours, etc,

COLUM MacDONNELL,

Glenageary,

Co Dublin.

Sir, D.R. Cooper assures us it will, only take a modicum of common sense, for the UK to successfully extricate itself from the EU in 2020. I, for one, welcome this fundamental, if sadly overdue, change in the UKs Brexit negotiating strategy. Yours, etc,

RONAN McDERMOTT,

Rathgar,

Dublin 6.

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The UK and a trade deal with the EU - Irish Times

SCOTLAND will not be spending its last Christmas as part of the European Union this year, an SNP MP has vowed.

Alyn Smith, who was an MEP until elected as an MP this month, pledged the SNP would do all they can at Westminster to ensure the country can escape the mess of Brexit.

His comments come as a German MEP renewed a pledge the EU would leave the door open for an independent Scotland to rejoin.

A majority of 124 votes for the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill at its second reading in the Commons last week means the UK is on its way to finalising its divorce from Brussels by the January 31 deadline.

READ MORE:SNP's Amy Callaghan: My first week at Westminster as an MP

But Smith, who was elected to represent Stirling, said: This cannot be Scotlands last Christmas in the European Union, and SNP MPs will do all we can to ensure that Scotland can escape the mess of Brexit.

The people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly to Remain in the EU in 2016, and people in Scotland cannot be dragged out of Europe against the wishes of our people.

Scotland is a European nation and our EU membership must be protected from a destructive Tory Brexit.

The risk of losing 100,000 jobs in Scotland, and a Brexit money-grab of 2300 from every person per year with a hard Brexit, is simply not worth taking.

He added: Scotland cannot afford to stay a member of the UK in an increasingly insular Brexit Britain.

Only by taking our seat at the table with other independent European nations can Scotland escape the chaos of Brexit.

German Green MEP Terry Reintke tweeted a message highlighting a letter to the Scottish Parliament signed by 50 politicians from across the EU in the wake of the Brexit vote.

She said: Maybe now is the moment to remind everyone in Scotland of our commitment: Your future is for you to decide, but we will leave our door open.

The letter to MSPs acknowledges that Scotland voted strongly to remain within the EU. It added: If Scotland were to become an independent country and decided to maintain European Union membership, we offer our full support to ensure the transition is as swift, smooth and orderly as possible.

Scotland would be most welcome as a full member of the European Union, with your five million European citizens continuing to benefit from the rights and protections we all currently enjoy.

Yesterday Boris Johnson was asked whether he was planning for a hard Brexit at the end of 2020, as he visited British troops in Estonia and met with the countrys Prime Minister Juri Ratas.

He said: On the EU and our partnership, just talking to Juri Ratas, who is the prime minister here, such a positive feeling now.

What everybody wants to do is put Brexit behind us on January 31 and move on, and theres a lot of goodwill and a lot of energy now about building the new deep and special partnership, and thats what were going to do.

THE Prime Minister told MPs on Friday that the oven was on when it came to delivering Brexit next year, but said there would be no alignment to EU rules once the transition period ends in 2020.

READ MORE:Staying in the Union cost Scotland 3.3 billion this year

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned a good trade deal for Ireland was looking increasingly unlikely after the stance taken by Number 10 since the Tories win.

It is going to be difficult to secure a good trade deal for Ireland, principally because Boris Johnson has fixed on a harder Brexit than we anticipated under his predecessor or at the time of the referendum, and that is one where he talks very much about divergence, he said.

The harder approach being taken by Prime Minister Johnson is a risk to us and that is evident.

Varadkar said he feared the UK, under a hard Brexit, would look to undercut EU states on food, financial, product and health standards in order to compete for world trade.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised over Brexit trade negotiations following the sale of a UK defence and aerospace company to US private equity firm Advent. The UK Government approved the sale of Cobham, which has extensive contracts with the British military, on Friday after the deal was delayed due to national security concerns. Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the move was deeply concerning.

He said: If Boris Johnsons Government are happy to sell of a leading UK defence and aerospace company to Trumps America, how can we expect his Government to protect our defence and manufacturing sectors, not to mention every other sector of our economy, as they negotiate trade deals after Brexit?

However Johnson said it was important to have an open and dynamic market economy.

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This is not Scotland's last Christmas in the European Union, Smith insists - The National

The European Union anticipates olive oil consumption to increase in non-producing countries, both within the 28-member trading bloc and the rest of the world.

The E.U. also predicts that production among its members will continue to steadily increase, growing by about 1.1 percent over the course of the next decade.

The E.U.s olive oil production is expected to further intensify with an increase in production capacity. Domestic consumption could grow, mainly outside of the main producing countries, the report said. At global level, strong demand in traditional and new markets should lead to an increase in E.U. exports.

These predictions were laid out in the E.U.s 2019 to 2030 agricultural outlook report published earlier this month.

The E.U. mainly attributes increasing production to the shift from traditional to super-intensive olive groves on the Iberian Peninsula as well as the modernization of irrigation systems and improvement of agronomic conditions of the trees.

The report also cites an increasing consumer preference for early-harvest olive oils and specialized organic and monovarietal oils as part of what is driving this production increase.

Overall, olive oil production in the E.U. is expected to increase by 400,000 tons over the course of the next decade. The majority of this growth is predicted to take place in Portugal, which, according to aseparate report, may be the third-largest producer of olive oil globally by 2030.

The report also addresses one of the upcoming challenges for Europes olive oil sector, which is the issue of farm succession.

Farm succession will remain achallenge, particularly in Italy and Greece, where most farms are smaller than five hectares (12.4acres), and where around 70 percent of the owners of these small farms are 55years and older, the report said.

In terms of consumption, the report predicts that the majority of growth in demand will come from outside of the main producing countries. The E.U. cites changing in eating habits as well as the younger generations concern about their health and the environment as two of the reasons behind this growth.

Overall, olive oil consumption in non-producing E.U. member states is expected to increase by eight percentage points, even as Europes population is projected to decline during the period.

Non-producing countries will make up 32 percent of total consumption in the trading bloc.

The trend of declining olive oil consumption in producing countries is also expected to slow down slightly.

The E.U. attributes both of these trends to successful awareness campaigns as well as the incorporation of olive oil into modern lifestyles, such as its use in various food services.

Along with increasing consumption, the E.U. also anticipates that exports to the rest of the world will increase by 3.3 percent per year between 2019 and 2030. The report suggests that exports are likely to increase in some existing markets as well as in new markets.

This optimism comes in spite of the uncertainty of future relations with the United Kingdom one of the largest domestic markets for olive oil in the E.U. which is set to begin the process of leaving the trading bloc on January 31.

Further complications could come from the United States, which is in the process of reviewing whether it will increase existing tariffs on Spanish olive oil imports and apply new tariffs on other E.U. olive oil imports as aresult of the ruling in its favor at the World Trade Organization in October.

In spite of the prediction for increasing production, the E.U. expects exports and consumption to grow at amuch faster rate as the decade progresses.

According to current market data, the E.U. has 829,000 tons of olive oil stocks. This near-record high figure (stocks were slightly higher in 2018) has been partially responsible for driving down olive oil prices in countries such as Spain, which has the vast majority of the stocks.

The report predicts that olive oil stocks will have decreased to 550,000 tons by 2030. Over the same period of time exports are predicted to steadily increase to 860,000 tons (they currently sit at 610,000 tons) and imports will decrease, but not dramatically (these change quite drastically depending on the harvests in E.U. countries).

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E.U. Anticipates Increase in Consumption and Exports by 2030 - Olive Oil Times