Final Countdown Stalled

1:10 pm, 6/2/05

Final Countdown Stalled
The Dutch have overwhelmingly rejected the European Constitution, leaving some German opposition politicians pondering the nature of bureaucracy:

Matthias Wissmann, the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) head of parliament's European Affairs Committee, said the double rejection of the constitution meant the EU would have to change its way of doing business.

"Whenever Brussels tries to regulate people's everyday things the frustration over Europe grows," said Wissmann, adding the EU would have to withdraw from some areas and focus on doing things essential to the European level.

He said everything else could be done "more efficiently and more transparently" at the national level.

Wolfgang Gerhardt, of the opposition Free Democrats (FDP), who is tipped to be Germany's next foreign minister if Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is defeated in autumn elections, took a more cautious approach.

He rejected the idea of imposing minimum social welfare standards throughout the bloc as have been sought by some who voted against the constitution due to the belief it would foster neo-liberal policies.

"Minimum social welfare standards won't help at all because we are in national competition and we can't slam our door shut as if the whole world will abide by what Europe agrees," said Gerhardt.

These guys sound almost rational. Shame they're not in charge. This nut is:

"The crisis over the ratification of the European constitution must not be allowed to become a universal crisis for Europe," said Schroeder.

I wonder how the proverb about putting all your eggs into one basket translates into German. Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende has accepted reality:

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende conceded defeat Wednesday night and said his government would accept the will of the people. He acknowledged the huge gap that has emerged between the politicians and the electorate.

"The idea of Europe has lived for the politicians, but not the Dutch people. That will have to change," he said. "We will need to bring across the message that there are doubts here about the fast pace of change, the Dutch identity and other, financial, concerns."

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder rushed to Luxembourg for a one-day to discuss future European policy with Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Schroeder's spokesman said.

Blair's government isn't saying yet what will become of its plans to put the constitution to British voters in a referendum that had been penciled in for next year, but most assume it's now certain to be called off. It's hard to imagine a "yes" vote in wary Britain after two of the EU's founding members resoundingly rejected the charter.

Extremely hard.