A geopolitically strong Europe is ultimately desirable, not least for the Middle East with which European powers have long, if not always praiseworthy links. The question remains, however, whether the process of driving stronger union may not rebound against the Euro-enthusiasts in Brussels and actually threaten the considerable economic achievements that have been made in the last 60 years.
The Lisbon Treaty that is an EU constitution in all but name has now been ratified by the Irish — at the second attempt. No other electorates have been consulted in referenda, for a very good reason. The original constitutional document was vetoed in 2005 by both French and Dutch voters. This time it has been parliaments alone in the 27 member states that have voted to ratify. A referendum on the constitution promised the British by then Prime Minister Tony Blair did not happen because Blair, in his finest Iraqi WMD-mode, claimed the Lisbon Treaty was not in fact a constitution.
Now it remains for the Polish and Czech presidents to sign into law their own parliaments’ endorsement of Lisbon. The Poles say this will happen within days while Czech Premier Jan Fischer, after an awkward meeting in Brussels Wednesday, asserted that his President Vaclav Klaus would have signed before the end of the year, once a Euroskeptic challenge in the Czech constitutional court had been overcome. Klaus, however, has made no secret of his doubts about the wisdom of the Lisbon deal and might force a constitutional crisis if the court throws out the challenge.
One reason why Brussels is trying to capitalize on the momentum of the Irish vote is the chance that next year the British will have a Conservative government and the party has promised that if Lisbon is still not ratified, they will honor the UK referendum pledge that the ruling Labour Party dishonored. It is not actually certain British voters will reject the treaty but there has always been a strong undercurrent of suspicion of Brussels and until recently at least, before the value of the pound began to slide sharply, considerable satisfaction that Britain had stayed out of the euro zone.
Just as with the creation of the euro, there has been a series of unedifying Brussels fixes to push the Lisbon Treaty through. Enthusiasts for a united Europe doubtless feel in time, the shenanigans will all be forgotten as the EU reaches the broad sun-lit uplands of stronger political as well as economic union and can punch its weight in world affairs. The diminishing status of individual European countries in the G20 and IMF only adds urgency to the need for this transformation. But at the heart of the dream of a United States of Europe currently sit 27 countries, with almost as many different languages and varying degrees of nationalist sentiment. Whatever the economic pay-off, especially for the smaller members, does every EU citizen actually share a vision of European unity or are the foundations being laid for a state’s rights conflict, as that which in part underpinned the American Civil War?
