New EU blog and thoughts on the French referendum
I hadn't spotted EU Rota before, and it seems to be literate, which makes a nice change. It has a couple of interesting posts on the French constitutional referendum, especially here, which makes some points I've been pondering:
I'm planning a big post on this when I've got time. Meanwhile, have something I've just written at Commissioner Wallstrom's place (link fixed):
It has to be said, the more I think about this whole situation, the more I reckon that if any country votes "No", France is the ideal choice.
In short: I still think that passing the constitution would be a good thing, despite its flaws, but better a country not previously considered especially Eurosceptic voicing issues than somewhere like Britain, where it will be incredibly easy for the rest of the EU to simply put it down to "typical" British petty nationalism/bloody-mindedness, and thus not feel the need to address the main concerns.
5 Comments:
Nosemonkey
Problem is that France if it rejects the treaty, will be for the exact opposite reasons that here in UK want to reject it
France
Turkey membership
just dont like goverment
Too capitalist
Uk
EU
Erode freedom
too socialist
You point to the need for a short/broad Constitution to be voted upon.
Countries can no longer have such diametrically opposed campaigns on EU-wide matters.
Sat TV and the internet allows us all to peek over each others shoulders and see what claims are being made by whom.
The current Constitution mess lays with M. Wallstrom and her predecessor for not creating a coherent singular strategy. Of course, their material to work with could not exactly be called good.
Alan - I don't see that as being a problem. If there are two very different opinions of what the EU should all be about, produce two versions of the EU to run side-by-side under the "European Union" umbrella. Simple as that. Just like with the Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries.
gea3 - very true. I wouldn't blame Wallstrom so much though, more the people who decided to make the document so damn long and confusing - makes it far too easy to have loads of different interpretations. What the Commission (or someone at least) should have done is explain very clearly at the start what it is for and help co-ordinate campaigns. But they wouldn't have needed to do that had Valery Giscard d'Estang produced a more concise and penetrable constitution.
If the EU is fading or at least desire a consolidation of membership, and the dollar is rising, the euro is falling and the pound is strong as ever. Could this be a catalyst to erase the post cold war world order? My logic is Europe with a fractionalizing of political unions and weak trade will create a balance of power system of sepreate powers. Political flak about the MOD leak and the high pound could isolate Britain as trade decreases. China and India finally are becoming financially strong enough to have their markets to not be only reactants to the West. All of this fractionalizing of powers shift bonds between countries and produce a stalemate in the United Nations with no standing army or security council with due process of collective security to unite people on worldly issues. And at home here in America can the conservatives secularize themselves from the religious right and lobbies to free up markets to allow enough transition of our economy before it gets left behind, and if the left is in charge markets will become so autarkic its truly pathetic... It’s just my speculation, I run wild with it sometimes, but I'm just saying is the world finally entering a trend of multipolarity?
The result of the French referenda was a repoliticisation with the EU. Europe has awaoken....a bit. But it was also an oppotunity to give the political class in France a good kicking.
You might be interested in this bloc.
http://www.beatroot.blogspot.com/
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