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So Who Is telling Porkies

As previously mentioned on this blog here and here the Constitution is being sold to each country on different and often conflicting bases, this means either they are talking about different documents or as Jack Frost would say somebody it telling porkies.

As noted on E U Referendum the Times has now picked up on this story

AS SPAIN prepares to hold the first of at least ten national referendums on Europe’s new constitution this Sunday, an odd impression is emerging: voters in each member state are being asked to ratify a very different document.
From Dublin to Warsaw, governments are tailoring their portrayals of the constitution to maximise its appeal to their particular electorates, while opponents are doing exactly the opposite.

Given that the treaty contains 300 pages of legalese and more than half of the EU public professes no knowledge of it, there is ample scope for presenting the constitution any way one wants.

One would never guess from all this that the original purpose of the document was to provide one clear, simple, unambiguous definition of the Union and its powers.
The most glaring contrast lies between Britain and France. President Chirac plays up the treaty as the consecration of Europe as a superwelfare state along French lines.

Tony Blair, by contrast, depicts it as a guarantee of British sovereignty, complete with vetos and inviolable “red lines”.

Confirmation of this comes this morning From England Expects

Speaking on Radio France’s main morning news bulletin on Monday Noel Mamère, a leading French Green politician and Yes campaigner said,
“The good thing about the European Constitution is that with it the United Kingdom will not be able to support the United States in a future Iraq”.
This is one of the main selling points for the ‘Yes’ campaign in France and comes at a singularly worrying time.

The Government in Westminster and UK Europhiles will have us believe that this Constitution changes nothing important but sets out and sets in stone the powers of the Union over the nation states making the Union work better whilst at the same time giving the states more power of self-determination and that it clearly puts the States in the driving seat, in fact everything we could have possible wanted. Yet at the Convention Britian made 275 suggested amendments to the draft and all but 11 of them were rejected, this means that the British government had to accept that in 264 cases they were not going to get what they wanted and what they thought at the time would be best for Britain. We now hear that in one case when they thought they had a veto on the EU prosecutor, the EU is already moving ahead with plans for this post obviously ignoring the British Veto.

Meanwhile many French Danes and Dutch regard the treaty as a dangerous open door to Turkey, and Muslim immigration.
To counter this the President of the Commission has told the French that they will be able to change the rules on weighted voting if Turkey was to be allowed in, so that France could remain one of the major powers, and the French have themselves offered a Referendum to their citizens on any further enlargement to the Union, which is either a totally meaningless gesture, or it would give France alone the right to accept or reject any other country, this cannot be sustainable. But the British Government would like to portray the Constitution as the final word.

In Luxembourg, the treaty is viewed as a welcome step towards political union. That opinion is shared in Belgium. In Germany, the public sees the constitution as the creation of a political voice for Europe to face down the United States.
For the Spanish and Irish, the constitution is a promise of further aid-driven prosperity, with a continuing stream of euros from Brussels. Wolfgang Schuessel, Austria’s Chancellor, argues that the constitution protects smaller member states: “If the constitution fails at this point, the big countries will be able to carry out plans that we have been wanting to prevent.”

The same argument can be heard in Prague. President Klaus, one of the Union’s biggest sceptics, sees the constitution as a dangerous infringement of sovereignty, while Stanislav Gross, the Prime Minister and his political opponent, says the Czech Republic badly needs it because “if we say no, we will stand alone”.

The British government keep down playing the development of the EU as a state telling the exact opposite of the truth when Tony Blair tell us “The constitution is an expression of Europe as a union of nation states . . . the rejection of Europe as a federal superstate”

Someone should ask him how he squares that with what the other leaders are saying.
“The constitution will create a political and institutional framework from which no one will be able to withdraw. It is a big step towards a more Social Europe” Jacques Chirac
“Prosperity will be reinforced by the constitution. It puts in place a social model which endeavours to be the most just and most advanced in the world” José Luis Zapatero of Spain
“This is a great step forward for the EU to become a true political union” Jean-Luc Dehaene of Belgium
“Europe is a story of friendship and partnership. The constitution seals this.” Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands
“The constitution is a massive infringement of our sovereignty” Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic
“This constitution allows Europe to take giant strides forwards in terms of defence.” Chirac

“Enormous, qualitative step forwards in the process of European integration” Zapatero

“A positive step for workers” and that it “reinforces the European social model.” Jacques Chirac

“The Constitution is the capstone of a European Federal State.” - Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian Prime Minister, Financial Times, 21st June 2004

“Our constitution cannot be reduced to a mere treaty for co-operation between governments. Anyone who has not yet grasped this fact deserves to wear the dunce’s cap. “- Valéry Giscard,

“The EU must take on new responsibilities. And these new responsibilities call for intensifying the integration process. “Romano Prodi

Our continent’s unification is at hand and we must stand to account. “Romano Prodi

“We are involved in a constitution-building process of historic importance. The Convention should mark a new stage in European integration.” Romano Prodi

“We have sown a seed… Instead of a half-formed Europe, we have a Europe with a legal entity, with a single currency, common justice, a Europe which is about to have its own defence. “Valery Giscard

“There is really quite an inherent danger in the traditional British view that the council of ministers and inter-governmentalism is your protection against the federalist superstate.” - Gisela Stuart MP

“The European Union is a state under construction.” - Elmar Brok,

“Our task is nothing less than the creation of a new constitutional order for a new united Europe.” - Peter Hain, MP

“The European Constitution will be an essential stage in the historic process of European integration.” - Gerhard Schröder