Citizens have not been consulted directly, however. Instead they have been ventriloquised
through ‘sock puppet’ charities, think tanks and other ‘civil society’ groups which have been
hand-picked and financed by the European Commission (EC). These organisations typically
lobby for closer European integration, bigger EU budgets and more EU regulation.

The composition of ‘civil society’ at the EU level is largely dictated by which groups the
Commission chooses to fund. There has been a bias towards centre-left organisations, with
a particular emphasis on those promoting policies that are unpopular with the public, such as
increasing foreign aid, restricting lifestyle freedoms and further centralising power within EU
institutions.

The EC’s favoured civil society organisations are also marked by a homogeneous worldview
and similarity of jargon. The literature and websites of these groups suffocate the reader
with vague rhetoric about ‘stakeholders’, ‘sustainability’, ‘social justice’, ‘capacity building’,
‘fundamental rights’, ‘diversity’, ‘equity’ and ‘active citizenship’.

Many of the groups which receive the Commission’s patronage would struggle to exist without
statutory funding. For example, Women in Europe for a Common Future received an EC
grant of €1,219,213 in 2011, with a further €135,247 coming from national governments. This
statutory funding made up 93 per cent of its total income while private donations contributed
€2,441 (0.2 per cent) and member contributions just €825 (0.06 per cent).

There is virtually no funding for organisations which seriously question the Commission’s
direction of travel. By contrast, groups that favour closer union and greater centralisation are
generously funded. The ‘Europe for Citizens’ programme which ‘gives citizens the chance to
participate in making Europe more united, to develop a European identity, to foster a sense of
ownership of the EU, and to enhance tolerance and mutual understanding’ has a €229 million
budget for 2014-20.

Substantial EU funds are also used to support organisations that share the Commission’s
environmentalist agenda. The Green 10 represent the largest of Europe’s environmental lobby
groups, but dozens, if not hundreds, of like-minded ecological organisations also receive EU
funding. The Commission freely admits that funds are given to environmental groups ‘to support
policy development’.

Civil society groups in non-member countries are another funding priority for the Commission.
In 2012/13, its Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility had a €22 million budget to be distributed
to groups in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, later increased to €45.3 million.
Many Youth in Action grants have been given to projects in potential new member states
such as ‘Unite Unite Europe!’ (Serbia), ‘Be Active, Be European!’ (Albania) and ‘Citizen of my
country, citizen of my Europe!!’ (Kosovo).

Det er naturligvis positivt, at den nuværende regering er relativt mere økonomisk ansvarlig end man kunne have frygtet før valget. (Og det giver så oppositionen lejlighed til at spille de ligegyldig spil om ”brudte løfter”).

Men det afgørende er nu engang at vi er på vej mod et mere og mere forstenet, statsdomineret og dermed ufrit samfund med stadigt flere, der er afhængige af plyndringstogtet, der føres ud i livet af skattemyndighederne.