The proposed EU Constitution was defeated by a public referendum in France in May of 2005. According to the rules, this democratic process put an end to it. But as soon as the defeat was clear, it began to look as though its sponsors were not about to let democracy stand in their way. (article)
This week, European citizens are bracing for the new sales pitch. This time however, they will not be allowed to vote. After the defeat, the process continued to test the political machinery. In most cases in which parliaments rather than citizens decided, the constitution was pushed through. Experience in Sweden (and likely most everywhere) showed that members of parliament had only vague ideas about what the document actually said. Statements made in support, even in lively debate, were merely repetitions of political party talking points.
In order to push past the will of the people, the proposed constitution will not be referred to as a constitution. It will be presented as a treaty instead, with the hope that only parliamentary approval by the states will be required to pass it.
The meat of the document has not changed very much. It is still intent upon creating a super-state capable of imposing dictatorial control over all elements of European life. Actual states “rights” would only go as far as Brussels allows and modern individual rights would be banished by leftist nanny principles.
The counter-argument is that symbols of the European Union have been removed. This includes the flag, hymn, motto, and “Europaday.” The symbols were removed to support an argument that they were to blame for giving the appearance of the creation of a super-state. The flag of course, already exists and will continue to be the official flag of the European Union.
Opposition to the “treaty” includes Poland, Czech Republic, and Great Britain. This is not at all a surprising combination. Poland led the fall of Soviet communism. The Czech Republic was one of the world’s most successful democracies before WWII when it was occupied by Germany and then dominated by their communist liberators. One would certainly presume the opposition of Great Britain to the death of modern democracy in Europe. Their battle against this particular gaggle of Euro-politicians is not new.
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amfortas said,
They are about to get a new PM, now Blah is quitting. He’s done as much damage as he can. It will be the Brown-Balls Government in a few weeks.
June 15, 2007 at 4:37 am
roger said,
June 15, 2007 at 12:03 pm