Dutch PM fears a rolling no spreading across Europe

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=cc2bb1f8593d1fe3&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Dutch PM fears a rolling no spreading across Europe
The Times, Reuters
May 31, 2005
THE HAGUE: Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has issued an urgent appeal to his citizens to ignore the French vote and approve the European constitution in the country's referendum tomorrow.

Opinion polls have shown that the Dutch, traditionally proud Europeans, are even more strongly opposed to the constitution than the French, with opponents having a 14-point lead over supporters.

The Dutch Government had been hoping a French yes would persuade Dutch voters to support the constitution, for fear of being isolated in Europe. European leaders had tried to orchestrate the referendums in different countries to secure a rolling yes across the Continent, but a rejection by the Dutch would represent the scenario they had desperately tried to avoid: a rolling no.

European leaders insisted the French result had not killed the treaty, though British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw admitted the rejection raised profound questions about the future of the union.
more...

Doesn't sound good for the EU Constitution!!!

[bpilgrim]

1. just say NO to corporate constitutions

period

peace

[Frederik]

2. The constitution is dead

The Dutch are going to reject it with an even larger margin than the froggies. I'm amazed the Eurocrats didn't see this coming. The average percentage who think the EU is a good idea in all EU countries is 48%. It hasn't been increasing either. The French non should be a wake up call that should have come years ago: Brüssel and the elites are out of touch with a large portion of the people(s).

80% of working-class Frenchmen voted no. Which is not susprising at all, considering the anti-social content that was surreptitiously added to the constitution late in the process: companies, for instance, are allowed to bring workers from low-cost cuntries to a high-cost country and employ them there at the wages and terms that apply in their country of origin. Does that kind of anti-worker legislation belong in the Constitution of Europe? Is it any wonder that low-income Frenchmen rejected it with a wide margin, while the high-income end of the spectrum were largely positive?

I applaud the French for the choice they made. The Eurocrats and the national elites have to come up with something better than this, if they want popular support for their project.

[Swamp Rat]

3. ¡Pero la "siesta" en España ya vive!

I cannot bear the thought of "no more siesta" in Spain (last I heard, the elites in Brussels were talking about doing away with it and moving to a USA style work week for the entire EU). :(

[Frederik]

4. Jawohl, no more laziness

Germen efficiency über die ganze Europa. Well, the Germans have 35 hour work weeks and 5 weeks vacation, so the corporatists would like to improve the German efficiency as well.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. The French over 65 wanted the constitution, those under didn't

But it was also a far wider rejection of the political status quo by the first generation of European voters who have no connection to the Second World War or the postwar decisions that led to the creation of the EU. For those voters -- polls showed that the young and those with less formal education held the largest proportions in the No camp, with only those over 65 showing a strong Yes position -- the threat of slipping back into nationalism holds far less menace.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050530.wxfrance30/BNStory/International/

ie those who remember the Second World War. Perhaps they've always seen European integration as a good thing, knowing how it could fall apart, and how terrible it could be if it did. The younger don't see the EU as such a vital thing.

[Robbien]

6. There is a great UK opinion article on how the French youth are waking up

http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/05/31/do3101.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/05/31/ixopinion.html

It must have been such fun to be there. Readers of The Daily Telegraph will have been struck by the picture, carried on yesterday's front page, of the Non camp celebrations in Toulouse. The faces of those celebrating were not the grumpy Front National types you might expect (there wasn't a moustache in sight). They were, in fact, the radiant, immaculately made-up faces of happy twentysomethings

. . .

As we saw on Sunday, the answer is Non. In fact, these young people were never very excited about the EU: until recently they generally neither knew nor cared about it. But, with the arrival of the draft constitution, their apathy rapidly turned to outrage.

. . .

I have always thought that the much-decried apathy of the young when it comes to elections and politics is really a happy sign that we think things are pottering along all right. We might lean to the Left or the Right, but generally we are confident that, although they might not always be honest with us, we are unlikely to be the victims of a coup or a massive fraud by politicians without our knowledge. Perhaps we are more alert after the Iraq war, but on closer inspection the EU project suddenly seems like just such a coup.

I have a friend who is studying to take her law exams before applying to the Bar. She recently told me of her horror at discovering that much of the law she has to learn is now European law, which takes precedence over domestic law to an alarming degree. "When did we vote for that?" she asked. The answer is that we never really did.

[DuaneBidoux]

7. Yes older folks (like my father-in-law near Toulouse) saw

unification as the way to end any and all risk of future European horrors. There is increasing nationalism and right wing movement among the youth of Europe--and a lot of the no vote was plain and simply driven by that. I'm surprised at the level of support for the dissolution of Europe at DU. There were more left wing parties supporting it than right wing (no right wing). The constitution was a disaster, that I'll admit. But I am much more afraid now for the future...there is a real and significant possibility that the EU will begin to come apart. And trust me, that ONLY serves the interest of the NeoCons and their dream of absolute American hegemony.