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May 30, 2005
The French 'Non'
It is difficult to see the French result in anything but negative terms. The French were voting against a lot of things, not just the new constitution, but where does that leave them? Where does that leave us?
In one sense the French have created their own problem, which they have to solve through their own politics. Assuming they don’t want to reject Europe outright, they will have to explain to the other countries what kind of Europe they want to be part of.
The treaty was not an ambitious document. It was the product of past agreements and lengthily, tortuously, negotiated compromises. It is hard to see how it could be renegotiated. Impossible to see how the document could be re-thought to appeal more to popular opinion in different countries, when it is being rejected for such contradictory reasons.
Europe now has 25 members and is no longer ‘unthinkable’ without French participation. So the process of ratification by other countries has to continue - with the implicit assumption that France will re-engage in the process at some point.
It is unfortunate that in Britain’s case, the ratification is not a parliamentary one. Referendums - the form of democracy most favoured by Hitler and Mussolini - are rarely performed in a clear-cut, straight-forward and objective manner. The government in power, other political groups, and the local mainstream media all attempt to use the vote for their own ends.
In this case I can’t imagine a more discredited advocate for the treaty than Blair, but since the prime minister, in his moment of weakness, agreed to hold a referendum, then the government should ‘bring it on’. Who knows British Eurosceptics may be so flattered by the French rejecting the treaty for being too ‘Anglo-Saxon’ that they are persuaded to vote ‘Yes’!
Posted by Simon Holledge at May 30, 2005 01:59 PM
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