Ignoring the voters is what the EU does best
May 31, 2005 by Ken
Filed under The Best of the Rest
I tend to agree with the argument that the ratification exercise should continue, in the event that they decide to shelve the document, there should be an immediate halt to the anticipatory introduction of the proposals in the Constitution. It would seem to be totally undemocratic to proceed with these proposals if the treaty giving legal authority for them has been rejected. After all it is the Eulisits who do keep telling us we cannot cherry pick, but that is exactly what they will be doing by introducing these proposals.
The Constitution sets up the post of EU Foreign Minister and also to back him up with an EU diplomatic corps. Although the constitution has not yet been ratified and probably will not, this is not a concern for the proposed Foreign Minister who already revels in the title of “EU foreign policy chief†a post that does not exist.
So it is that Javier Solana “EU foreign policy chief†writes urging the bloc’s leaders to proceed with plans to create the Union’s diplomatic service despite the French rejection of the constitution. the Service could play a consular role for EU nationals and would occupy a place of its own in the EU system between the European Commission and member states. Arguing that “This service will definitely come into existence sooner or later. The more we work on a thorough preparation, the better and more successful it will be when it comes into action”. Solana says “I am convinced that the “no” vote in France is not a setback for the EU as an actor on the world stage. The EU was already an international actor, before we even started talking about the Constitution”, adding “neither the constitutional text nor the ideas contained in it are dead”.
Thus it is that the elitists intend to ignore any democratic vote rejecting the constitution, as Jean-Claude Juncker said last week “If it’s a Yes, we will say ‘on we go’, and if it’s a No we will say ‘we continue’,” .
