Some interesting post referendum stuff:
Le Monde has a map which breaks the result down district by district - makes the result even more depressing for the 'Yes' voters. 83 districts voted against, 13 voted for.
Also, Martin Kettle's comment in the Guardian and finally a dependably Euroskeptical view from Mark Steyn.
4 comments:
Two very interesting articles. I'm still quite ignorant on this subject myself so found it all v. helpful.
By the way, I was quite intrigued by this bit of Steyn:
"The big story of the past three decades is that the more it's mired itself in the creation of a centralised pseudo-state, the more "Europe" has fallen behind America in every important long-term indicator, from economic growth to demographics."
Can anyone point me at the evidence that Steyn is alluding to? I'm not contradicting him; I'd be interested to find out more for two reasons. 1) As I understand it America's fortunes effect ours quite strongly. 2) A left-wing American friend was spreading a very gloomy picture of the US to do with the decline of manufacturing and exports.
Personally I'd quite like it if America was in the rude health that Steyn describes so any suggestions on where to find out more about this would be most appreciated.
Fair comment, I think:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/06/02/dl0201.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/06/02/ixopinion.html
Blair must take back the powers to govern Britain
Telegraph Opinion
02/06/2005
Before the French referendum, the Prime Minister repeatedly averred that the constitution merely codified existing arrangements, and that to reject it would be to reject the EU itself. He should now live up to the implication of this rhetoric.
For the collapse of the edifice of the new EU has exposed the faults in the existing architecture. The rejection of the constitution by two of the three electorates which have been given a say on the matter (the Spanish people voted for it) amounts to a crisis of legitimacy for the entire project. Never mind that many of the groupings within the international No coalition give different reasons for their resistance: the very fact that some have a horror of Anglo-Saxon libéralisme, while others object that the EU is not liberal enough, demonstrates the impossibility of uniting the continent under a single state.
Dan asked for more data comparing the US and Europe. Here's a start - you can get stats on unemployment or birth rate etc by country:
http://www.unece.org/stats/trend/trend_h.htm
The Statistical Yearbook of the Economic Commission for Europe 2003
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/06/21/do2102.xml
An everyday fantasy of farming folk
By Mark Steyn
Telegraph
21/06/2005
"I really believe the French and Dutch did not vote no to the constitutional treaty," insisted Jean-Claude Juncker, the "President" of "Europe", continuing to celebrate his stunning victory in the referendum. ... "It is not possible for anyone to understand the full text," declared Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
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