1. 'NON' AND THEN 'NEE'.
- Author
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Lee, Robert Mason
- Subjects
- *
CONSTITUTIONS , *INTERNATIONAL relations , *LAW , *ELECTIONS - Abstract
This article reports on the state of Europe and how several countries have voted against adopting the constitution of the European Union (EU). As political leaders from Helsinki to Madrid were still reeling last week from the decisive rejection of a European constitution by French voters, the coup de grace to the creation of a "United States of Europe" was for all intents and purposes delivered three days later by voters in the Netherlands, who demonstrated even greater disdain for the creation of a European superstate. The back-to-back referendum losses almost certainly spell the end of the EU constitution, an uninspiring 67,725 words of legalese that would have established new powers for the European Parliament and created an elected, fixed-term European president and foreign minister. Although the upset has left Europe in disarray, it is not yet a full–fledged crisis. The EU will continue to function under the 2001 Treaty of Nice, designed for its then-membership of 15 countries. However, there now appears no way forward for the newer, expanded EU membership of 25 countries to manage its affairs. And plans for further expansion by eventually welcoming Turkey into Europe—as the first EU member to be entirely Muslim—could be in jeopardy. More worrisome still, the political calamity exposes two deep divisions in Europe. The first is the so-called "democratic deficit" between governors and the governed: the lack of political will to address issues of concern to the masses, such as the economy and immigration. The resulting battle will be nothing less than a fight for the heart of Europe.
- Published
- 2005