CAFTA - Central Atlantic Free Trade Association

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Lamont is struck with a bit of unfortunate flatuence at the exact moment of the explosion. He is visibly confused and embarassed, but quickly matches his expression to one of shock to match the others in the room.

"Shit," he thinks. "I'm glad I stayed out of that one."

 

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Loic contacts the simultaneous translators and asks them to announce that the meeting is adjourned, to apologize for his absence, and to thanks everyone for coming.

 

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Just as Maquereau returns, visibly alarmed, he also gets the message that the meeting is adjourned, and fails to inform the rest of the room of what has happened as he leaves.

 

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Workmen put up a sign over the entrance to the main confence room.

[size=+4]OFFER[/size]
Presidential Commission
[size=+1]Open Framework For Eventual Reunification
Le Cadre Ouvert Pour La Réunification Reportée
El Marco Abierto para la Reunificación Prorrogada[/size]​

 

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President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres, feels at home back at the CAFTA offices. He is somewhat dissapointed by the lack of high profile participation in this commission, but has drafted some deputy ministers from the other cabinet departments, and some provincial represenatives below the chancellor level. Attendance is spotty.
"Thank you all for coming. This is important work. Why don't we just get started and if any latecomers arrive they can put in their two centrinos worth at that time. The first question would be, what would the powers that could or should be centralized and harmonized across of all of Eutopia? There is already a precedent, in CAFTA, for the Trade portfolio, now part of the MTIA, to be upstreamed to this new body. Perhaps Immigration, also from MTIA, and Sport, from MESA, should be as well. The soccer league spans all three countries and we were discussing putting in a joint bid for hosting the World Cup. Are there any other areas for which it would make sense, and that all three nations might agree?"

 

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"We need a name for what OFFER could bring into being. Eutopia is the island, and is too often confused with the United Provinces of Eutopia. Provisionally, until we come up with something better, we could call it the Commonwealth of Autonomous States of Eutopia, or CASE, or would you prefer the Commonwealth of Autonomous Regions of Eutopia, or CARE?"

Thus an enabling constitutional amendment for the UPE would look something like this:

CASE Enabling Amendment

In order to promote prosperity and tranquility on the island of Eutopia, the following amendments to the Constitution for the United Provinces of Eutopia shall be made.

1. Article I shall be amended to read:
   Art. 1. [Nature of Eutopian state] The United Provinces of Eutopia are a democratic federation of provinces, which is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States of Eutopia.
2. The title of Part II shall be amended to read:
   Part II. Commonwealth, Federation, and Provinces
3. Article 3 and Article 10 shall be amended to delete the words:
   "immigration", "citizenship", "trade", "customs", and "sports".
4. Article V shall be amended to read:
   Art. 5. [Commonwealth powers and Residual powers] The Commonwealth of Independent States of Eutopia shall have exclusive jurisdiction over matters of immigration, citizenship, trade, customs, and sports. Any jurisdiction not explicitly assigned to the Commonwealth, Federation, or Provinces shall be considered a federal responsibility.
5. Article 6 shall be amended to read:
   Art. 6. [Revenue stipulations] The Commonwealth may levy customs. The Federation may levy taxes, and fees of all kinds and for all purposes, or raise revenue by any other means not in violation of this Constitution. The Provinces may raise revenue after the same fashion, but may not levy customs, nor levy tax or fees on services and trade. The Federation may not levy customs.

"Any comments?"

 

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Or, since there is not much left in MTIA with Trade and Immigration being upstreamed to the commonwealth, we could move Labour from MERL to MESA (no name change needed) and combine what is left of MTIA and MERL as MERIA?

I would see the head of the Commonwealth being the head of state of one of the member states for a year at a time, on a rotating basis, with that person or their delegate being responsible for the immigration and citizenship portfolio, and two other commissioners, one each from the other two member states. One, who would also be head of CAFTA, would take trade, and the other would take sport.

 

[aussieboy]

No.

A loose federation that would Preserve the UPE, while granting autonomy to Tilapia and St. Espirit, perhaps having their own prime minister, might work.

 

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We could have the system set out in the same way as the Australian federal system with the states having the power over education, sport ect while the Federal system has the power to effect the nation as a whole so then the states can still feel like they have some power instead of giving all to the states. So really the states having power which they have now but with all the important stuff being giving to the Federal Governement.

 

[unmerged(33865)]

I am glad to get your input.

The specific duties that Tilapia might want to give its two provinces could be different than we currently do. In St. Esprit, where there is only one province in the country, this distinction is meaningless. Rather than thinking about the Australian model, perhaps the United Kingdom is more illustrative of our possible situation, with Scotland having different laws than England. I am not suggesting that we emulate the UK example, merely that we face some of the same problems, although clearly we are more divided now, and they had made certain steps relaxing centralization, and we are trying to discuss ideas to return an appropriate amount of centralization.

Each Autonomous State in CASE could decide to have a President, Monarch, or whatever as head of state. Each Autonomous State in CASE would have a head of government, which in the UPE is the same person as the head of state, but in Tilapia it is a different person.

The main point of this meeting is to figure out what powers the UPE is willing to give up to CASE or whatever the island-wide government is called, as well as what our neighbors would accept. We would have to give up some control to make it worthwhile for our neighbors to participate.

As to the rotation of the heads of state, this is done in many places, in the European Union, in Malaysia, where the "king" is chosen from among the sultans of the provinces, serves for a while and then another one is chosen.

 

[unmerged(35742)]

But we have to take into account that the British system of government is not a federation and is that not what we are aiming towards as I don't think that they would want to give up their power so readliy.

 

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We are a federation, Tilapia is a constitutional monarchy, and St. Esprit has its own way of organizing itself.

• Can all three join a commonwealth? Yes.
• Would all three want to? Only if the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
• What is the solution? Only include the items that we can all agree on in the Commonwealth and leave everything else with the three states, and give everyone an easy out if they don't like the way it is going.
• What can we agree on?
  1. Perhaps trade, as St. Esprit and ourselves have signed CAFTA and Tilapia has agreed to abide without signing.
  2. Citizenship/Immigration, as our peoples' family trees, jobs, and relationships often cross borders.
  3. Perhaps Sport, as were thinking about putting in a joint bid for the World Cup.

Is there anything else we should consider at first, or anything objectionable in that list. If this limited version works well, then perhaps other things can be added in the future. Remember, the European Union started off as just being about coal and steel, and it took them 50 years to get to where they are today.

 

[aussieboy]

Perhaps we could admit St.Espirit and Tilapia in as autonomous regions, which would mean that they could keep their system of government with modifications, and it would be mainly foreign policy and defence. There would be a single elected Federal Head of State, but there would be three heads of Government,

 

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I think, since there are more people in the UPE than in St. Esprit and Tilapia combined, they would resist 'a single elected Federal Head of State, but I would be delighted to hear some views from those countries. Also, the word Federal may be a sticking point as well, so to be less centralizing, I had thought confederation or commonwealth would be more appealing to our neighbors.

I have edited the Harare declaration of the Commonwealth to what might be appropriate for us. I could read like this:

Issued by Heads of Government in New Lancaster City on [fill in date]

1. The Heads of Government of the countries of the Commonwealth of Autonomous States of Eutopia ("CASE"), meeting in New Lancaster City, affirm their confidence in CASE as a voluntary association of sovereign independent states, each responsible for its own policies in all areas except Trade, Sports, Citizenship and Immigration, consulting and co-operating in the interests of their peoples and in the promotion of paninsular understanding and peace.
   
2. Members of CASE include people of many different races and origins, encompassing varying states of economic development, and comprise a rich variety of cultures, traditions and institutions.
   
3. The special strength of CASE lies in the combination of the diversity of its members with their shared inheritance in the Island of Eutopia, culture, and the rule of law. The CASE way is to seek consensus through consultation and the sharing of experience.
   
4. Its members also share a commitment to certain fundamental principles. These are set out in four documents:
   • The Eutopian Charter of Rights
   • The Central Atlantic Free Trade Association Treaty
   • The Recognition Act
   • The Central Atlantic Sporting Association Treaty (to be drafted)
5. Only sound and sustainable development can offer these millions the prospect of betterment. Development facilitates the task of tackling a range of problems which affect the whole global community such as environmental degradation, the problems of migration and refugees, the fight against communicable diseases, and drug production and trafficking.
6. Having affirmed the principles to which CASE is committed, we pledge CASE and our countries to work with renewed vigour, concentrating especially in the following areas:
   the protection and promotion of the fundamental political values of CASE:
   democracy, democratic processes and institutions which reflect national circumstances, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, just and honest government;
   fundamental human rights, including equal rights and opportunities for all citizens regardless of race, colour, creed or political belief;
   equality for women, so that they may exercise their full and equal rights;
   provision of universal access to education for the population of our countries;
   the promotion of sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty in the countries of CASE through:
   a stable international economic framework within which growth can be achieved;
   sound economic management recognising the central role of the market economy;
   effective population policies and programmes;
   sound management of technological change;
   the freest possible flow of multilateral trade on terms fair and equitable to all, taking account of the special requirements of developing countries;
   the development of human resources, in particular through education, training, health, culture, sport and programmes for strengthening family and community support, paying special attention to the needs of women, youth and children;
   effective and increasing programmes of bilateral and multilateral co-operation aimed at raising living standards;
   extending the benefits of development within a framework of respect for human rights;
   the protection of the environment through respect for the principles of sustainable development;
   action to combat drug trafficking and abuse and communicable diseases;
   help for small CASE states in tackling their particular economic and security problems;
   support of the United Nations and other international institutions in the world's search for peace, disarmament and effective arms control; and in the promotion of international consensus on major global political, economic and social issues.
7. To give weight and effectiveness to our commitments we intend to focus and improve CASE co-operation in these areas.
8. In affirming the principles of CASE and in committing ourselves to pursue them in policy and action in response to the challenges ahead, in areas where we believe that CASE has a distinctive contribution to offer, we the Heads of Government express our determination to establish the value and importance of CASE as an institution which can and should strengthen and enrich the lives not only of its own members and their peoples but also of the wider community of peoples of which they are a part.

What do you think? Please make suggestions.

 

[aussieboy]

Perhaps We could call it the United States of Eutopia, Tilapia and St. Espirit(if they join)? I propose using a decentralized form of the US Constitution, in where the lower house is apportioned by population, and the upper house , 1 for each state. Also, perhaps this could be put in:

The United States of Eutopia shal be in perpetual union, in reflection of their shared heritage and fraternity, and will effect the same, to ensure just and reasonable government for us and our posterity.

 

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Per Hapsburg, what you describe, I think, expresses very well, the kind of structure that would be favored my most fervent supporters of re-unification here in the UPE. There are certain compromises included, such as the name and the upper house. What is not clear is how this would be viewed by our neighbors, who, less than a decade ago, voted to leave. They are doing reasonably well on their own, so what has or what is there about your suggestion that would make them change their mind from the way they voted? The 'permanent union' idea may also elicit fears of something like the bloody US Civil War.

My suggestion is much lower key, a kind of 'try it, you may like it' approach, that allow our neighbors a chance to revert to the way they are now if the apparent advantages of a closer union don't prove to be realizable. The US went through a confederation before they adopted the constitution. We might need to follow that path. Perhaps we will prefer to stay a commonwealth? I don't want to tie the hands of those that will come after us.

I don't object to your idea, but I am unsure if it will get the support needed from our neighbors, who I would most like to hear from.

 

[aussieboy]

Perhaps we could put it to a popular referendum, my amendment, and create a Transitional Government of the Confederation(TGC), with a rotating presidency of a legislature of 1 member for each sovereign nation or Eutopian province. This would last for 1 month at the least (OOC:1 real-time week). They can then form a Eutopian Confederate Constitutional Convention(ECCC or E3C), to discuss these things, and provide a suitable constitution.

 

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A popular referendum might be a good idea, but some would consider any province that didn't have a majority for it as a candidate for secession, is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve. What we really need is some more input. Yours has been good. I made an announcement suggesting other drop by, let's see who turns up.

 

[aussieboy]

Also, we should make the provision that Tilapia be allowed to retain the Monarchy, and all laws passed by the TGC be of a two-thirds majority. Since the TGC would be composed of 12 members, it would require 8 votes to pass or repeal.

 

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I agree that Tilapia should be able to keep their monarchy. My plan allowed that as well.

(OOC: We might have trouble getting 12 players to fill the TGC.)