5.27.2005

EU Constitution: carne tostada

I've been following the French referendum on the EU Constitution. For a while, it was hard to believe the polls that suggested the French might say "no" to the expansion of bureaucracy, centralized authority, and socialist regulations across Europe.

Now the "no" vote is solidifying its lead, though, and it appears that it will win. Analysts suggest that the French are afraid of opening up their 10.2% unemployment / 1.4% growth workers' paradise to competition from lower-cost Eastern Europe. News analysts further suggest that French voters believe they will be able to renegotiate a better Constitution. Fat chance. The existing Constitution wouldn't have made it past the British voters, and any changes the French want would make it more repulsive to the British.

The problem is this. The French want centralized authority in Europe without a common market. The British want a common market in Europe without centralized authority. Never the twain shall meet.

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