The unbelievable happened. Democracy is officially dead, offered to the multinationals and capitalism. Here’s what happened: Danmark wanted to prevent the software patents directive to be passed as an A-item (meaning it would just be accepted without discussion or votes). They wanted to ask for a B-item, but not if they were alone. The Netherlands and Poland would support Danmark. But when it came to it, Danmark bowed to microsoft’s blackmailing (‘if you don’t support software patents, we will close our offices in your country’), The Netherlands cowardly went quiet and Poland (who once before saved us from software patents) had no choice to also step back.

To me this is so very clear: the parliament doesn’t want this directive, the people don’t want it, the only ones who want it are the big multinationals, and they apparrenlty have succeeded in buying off the ministers. What a great EU we live in, YUCK! I’d say, if you can’t beat them, join them. Sign up to this pledge, in the hope we collect enough bribery money so we can win the ‘one vote per euro’ election that is apparently standard procedure in the EU council.

What do they think they are doing?? Not much more than a week ago we were demonstrating against European software patents in Brussels, shouting ‘this is not a banana republic’, only to be confronted with more banana tactics this week: apparently they (the council of ministers) tried AGAIN to put this up as an A-item on the agenda of the meeting of ministers of agriculture&fishery. This means that it (the council proposal about software patents) will most likely be ratified, without discussion (more info on this can be found on the ffii website, along with all the gory details about how democracy is a farce in Europe.

A couple of questions come to mind: first of all what do the ministers of agriculture&fisherey know about software patents? How can they be expected to know the consequences of their act of ratification?
But the most important question to me is: when will it end? When will Europe be a democracy, when will the voice of the parliament (and thus the people) be taken serious? My hope is that the new constitution (which by no means is perfect) will bring this democracy. I hope the constitution will finally bring an end to the back-rooms and secret decisions, an end to the unlimited influence of multinationals on European regulations. I mean, come on, THIS IS NOT A BANANA REPUBLIC!

(so vote YES on the constitution, vote YES on democracy)