The addition of the Dutch “No” Wednesday to that of the French on Sunday has thrown many European politicians into turmoil, but in fact these rejections may very well strengthen the case for a constitution rather than destroy it. Now with 25 members, the European Union simply cannot continue to run itself the way it has in the past. Far-reaching reform is needed, not only in the way the EU is run, but also to its overblown budget, not least the billions of euros that are squandered by the inefficient and, in many eyes, deeply corrupt Common Agricultural Policy.
There is however an even bigger issue, which the EU as currently constituted is not addressing: Economic reform. Whatever their demerits, market economies, led by the United States and the UK and now embracing states like India and China have flourished while fundamentally protectionist economies such as those in the continental EU have wallowed in recession. The old core of the EU, France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries have paid themselves too much both at work and in retirement, continue to lavish taxpayers’ money on generous health and welfare services and still subsidize and shelter their industries from outside competition.
Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain have so far ratified the constitution, either by referendums or parliamentary votes. Thus, arguably, half the EU citizens who have so far expressed an opinion is in favor of reform. Since those who framed the EU constitution did not contemplate a Plan B in case it failed to win the referendum, a period of great uncertainty and recrimination lies ahead.
This can all, however, turn out for the better if it causes everyone to reassess the European project. The constitution was a mishmash of compromises hammered out in the corridors of European power. The views of EU citizens invited to vote on it are an equal mishmash of prejudice, fear and no doubt ignorance. However somewhere within the murk of misunderstanding, it will be possible to identify certain key reforms that will make Europe work better. One by one, as these are isolated and examined, they are likely to be built in to a reforming fabric of power in Brussels.
Key issues such as an elected European president and a united defense policy could not be created purely by the will of the Eurocrats, but the history of the EU is full of major changes that have come about as the final logical consequence of a whole series of far smaller and less contentious reforms. The Maastricht Treaty is the biggest example of this mechanism, presented as it was as largely a formalization of changes that had come into being piecemeal.
If Brussels were to abandon its fussy regulatory interventions in the affairs of member states and focus on substantive issues, there is even a chance that the Euroskeptic British could ratify the constitution if given the opportunity.
