The EU marches on

I've noticed two jucy bits from EU-Serf about another of the slow, but steady, increases in EU power. The first is towards tax harmonisation, and therefore the eventual tax setting powers that flow from it. The EU is demaining that Gibraltar stops it's tax haven activities. The second is that the arms chief of the European Union (What exactly does a free trade area need with an Arms Chief?) is calling for countries to stop protectionist practices of only awarding contracts to local companies. In a way this is good, as it is actually calling for freer trade, but the reasoning shows what it is really about. Making the comgoneration of the national armies into a supra national EU force easier.

"Nick Witney, the chief executive of the European Defence Agency, the EU's fledgling arms procurement group, said there must be more "collective" decision-making over what goes into Europe's armouries now that military units under EU command are a reality on the ground."