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Return Of The Living Dead
Nothing demonstrates EU federalists' contempt of democracy so clearly as the latest attempts to revive the Constitution - which was overwhelmingly rejected by French and Dutch voters last Spring.
Officially, the Constitution is "on ice" while the EU enjoys a period of reflection on its future. The six month British presidency of the EU stayed well away from discussions on the treaty. This was predictable - by doing away with the need for a British referendum, the Dutch and the French saved Tony Blair from the biggest defeat of his political career. Britain's government was relieved to see the Constitution off the agenda for a year or so, and made no attempt to revive talks during its presidency.
While some federalists might have preferred that the Brits took a more active role in hosting debate on the Constitution, its democratic rejection did not prevent the EU from introducing elements of the treaty piecemeal. As The Sun reports, "we now have an EU space programme, an EU criminal code, a defence agency, common asylum policy and a defence deal which trumps Nato.
"We have an EU foreign minister, our external borders are monitored by an EU agency. Prosecutions can be launched here by EU diktat."
The Sun calls this a "sneaky treaty" and demands that Blair give Britons the opportunity to reject the treaty like our Dutch and French friends. The Economist, no less scathing but rather more diplomatic, describes attempts by Eurocrats to revive elements of the treaty as "carving up the corpse for organs", rather than trying "to jolt the whole thing lumberingly back to life."
It's a great demonstration of Euro-logic. The Constitution has been rejected and so cannot become law. However, the various clauses and articles of the Constitution have not been rejected individually, so they can be introduced as soon as possible. Europe could end up with the Constitution as law, but without the symbolic agreement of the Constitution itself.
Some Europhile governors aren't even satisfied with this dishonesty, and want to revive the Constitution wholesale.
As Britain's presidency petered out in December, plans were already being drawn to put the Constitution at the top of the agenda for Austria's presidency, which runs until June. Germany's new chancellor Angela Merkel has swiftly earned herself the reputation as a skilled power-broker - and she declared that "the Constitution cannot be abandoned." She claims that Germany's presidency of the EU, which begins next January, will work to save the Constitution. Portugal's PM José Socrates says if the Germans fail, he will continue their work when Portugal takes over the presidency in July 2007.
Austria's chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel admits he has his work cut out for him in reviving the treaty, and argues that his nation's role is to report on possible directions for the EU in June. He's no doubt playing down the urgency of the negotiations for his home audience, who the BBC reports have become the EU's most Eurosceptic citizens.
Other powerful voices in his government argue that the treaty is "damaged beyond repair" (the Vice-chancellor Hubert Gorbach, who the BBC describes as "right wing" - it does not mention Herr Schuessel's affiliation). Gorbach adds "We need to go back to the start, we need to newly regulate the powers... We need less regulation from Brussels and more powers to the Europe of the regions."
He's joined here by Austria's finance minister, who called for Austria's presidency to be marked by projects to create jobs, not to revive the Constitution.
Oddly, cautious Austrians are joined in this sentiment by "Britain's most powerful man", EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso. Barroso too wants to see more discussion on jobs and less on obsessive study of the Constitution text, warning that Europe risks more division by reviving the treaty at this stage - though it would be misleading to suggest that Barroso wants to see the Constitution abandoned.
Still, the federalists push on. According to the Guardian, Angela Merkel has secured Schuessel's support for a "social chapter" annex to the Constitution which will guarantee various Social obligations in order to win around French voters. The proposed social charter, said the Austrian chancellor, would ensure "European social stability and social cohesion" remain "a part of our life."
It's worth noting again here that Merkel's party is a leading force in the European Parliaments EPP-ED centre-right federalist grouping: The same group that British Conservative leader David Cameron has promised to leave, but has since dragged his heels on that pre-election promise.
Will the French be fooled? The French might not take too kindly to being asked again - the ultimate European insult to the voters' intelligence - but even if they do support a revised treaty, a French agreement would force referenda into action in Britain, Denmark, Ireland and perhaps other member states. Britain would almost certainly reject the Constitution - by an even larger margin than was likely before, particularly if it has been doctored to suit the French. Holland could be forced to vote again, too, and approval is by no means guaranteed there.
The treaty has been rejected: It is legally dead. Continued attempts to force it through in defiance of voters' wishes amount to nothing less than a putsch.
