The EU, one more meeting and now...
So Denmark is bracketed by the EU on one side and its potential commercial whalers in the Faroes on the other. Greenland is already sliding into localized commercial whaling, but the Faroese had kept their noses out of this debate for some time.
Just to make the point, they went out and killed some whales, despite heath warnings not to do so.
So Denmark sits in the EU Council meeting and bleats on about having to defend Greenland’s rights, whilst abdicating EU rights.
Also, the Commission seems to be forgetting about EU law to protect whales and is seeking to avoid the humiliation of another CITES rather than seeking to do the right thing by the whales. This is about whales, not about internal processes and bureaucrats power bases.
And where are Ireland and a few others? Many people may have forgotten the role played by Ireland in years gone by in trying to create a new form of compromise in the IWC. I hope that they don’t think they have to live up to that legacy, and should concentrate on fighting this deal.
So as accusations of bribery circulate (again) Japan and her allies set themselves up to take advantage of the EU’s failure to get its act together.
Yes, there will be consequences. Those countries and institutions that fail to fight for the whales, and start tripping up over the concept of the ‘sustainability of whales’ should look carefully at what the people of Europe require of them, rather than what is politically expedient for a group of bureaucrats
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