Chalk One Up for the Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys
Amazingly, given the choice for the continued free and sovereign existence of their nation, the French actually chose NOT to surrender their sovereignty to the EU by ratifying the EU Constitution. Shocking, but true. And I have to hand it to Chirac for once. The treaty could - and would - have been ratified in a parliamentary vote but he actually let the people speak, and they spoke loudly. With 83% of the votes counted so far, 57% of the people voted no. Unfortunately, this probably does not end the attack - from the Scotsman
But the French "godfather" of the treaty said that such a result would not be allowed to stand.Nine of the EU member nations have ratified the treaty, but eight of those nations did so by parliamentary procedure instead of a popular vote."Those who did not vote for the constitution, we will ask them to re-vote," said Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president who led the Constitutional Convention that wrote the treaty.
Just a few of the problems with the European Constitution are:
- All EU law prevails over national laws and national constitutions
- Only the EU Court, no national high court, has jurisdiction on questions of EU member state's competence.
- In the area of Justice and Home Affairs Member States lose their competence to legislate when the Union exercises its own. This basically means that the Union only needs to adopt a piece of legislation in the area of JHA, to make the Member States lose their competence.
The reader friendly version of the 60,000 page Constitution - as opposed to our own constitution of less than 5,000 words - can be read here.
Updated: Via Daily Pundit, the blog EU Referendum is a great roundup of EU news, and has plenty on reaction to France's rejection of the EU Constitution.
Posted by Laura Curtis at May 30, 2005 11:03 AM
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Comments
| # May 30th, 2005 12:06 PM kris |
That EU referdum site has some great quotes:
In this, the Daily Telegraph leader comes closest to divining the reality, declaring that: "Mere democracy won't stop the EU machine." The project was never meant to be democratic, it says. |
| # May 30th, 2005 2:13 PM Laura |
| Of course, a lot of people voted against it because they didn't want free markets and other "western" influences to prevail - but hey, "it may be a double digit unemployment rate, out of control public spending, failing socialist economy, politically corrupt, increasingly anti-semitic, overrun by North African Islamists society, but it's OUR double digit unemployment..." you get the idea. |
| # May 30th, 2005 5:03 PM Laura |
One UK response, on whether it should have it's own referendum on this:
UKIP LEADER ROGER KNAPMAN |
| # May 31st, 2005 8:21 AM KVBigSis |
| That EU Referendum site is fascinating. Thanks. |
| # May 31st, 2005 9:19 AM BrianH |
| It appears Chirac decided it was the French PM's fault and canned him. He replaced him would our friend Dominique de Villepin.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8652622 I guess he isn't interested in improving French wine sales to the US.... |
| # May 31st, 2005 10:57 AM Laura |
| Chirac can't resign himself because then he can be prosecuted for OFF and other corruption. His supporters are trying to extend his immunity for life, critics are counting the days till they can pounce on him. |







