Can't you just leave them alone so they can get on with their project? Stop being so damn unreasonable!

Because of the obstinacy of the people of Europe, the new(ish) EU Treaty has been relatively quietly prepared. There has been a great deal less hullaballoo than when the EU constitution, in a sudden and unforeseen outbreak of democracy, was defeated by the people in the French and Dutch referendums.

Other referendums were cancelled against the wishes of public opinion in other EU countries, which was in favour of national referendums going ahead so they could register their disapproval - even though the constitution was already effectively dead.

Or was it?

I remember a few discussions I had when the constitution was thrown out. I simply wasn't convinced that these little conglomerated men with their big congealed egos were going to let it go at that.

When Chirac said in his national address "You have rejected the European constitution by a majority. It is your sovereign decision and I take note of it" I was slightly taken aback. 'Take NOTE of it' he said, not 'act in accordance with it' which would be the response if there was any semblance of democracy left in the upper echelons of government. Other politicians in Holland, France and around Europe more or less said that their fault was in not explaining themselves well enough rather than drafting horrendous policies that nobody wanted - even after an enormous campaign to convince them it was good for them.

In fact, because of this traitorous malevolence on the part of the people the European Council and the Council of Ministers decided not to explain themselves at all and get the civil servants to draft it and sneak it through, giving the document to member states only 48 hours before it was due to be signed. After this it can all be blamed on the European Commission and business can carry on with even more terrible leeway than usual.

This neatly sidesteps all that tedious business about democracy.

Indeed Valery Giscard d'Estaing, one of the main authors of the constitution said...

"All the earlier proposals will be in the new text, but will be hidden and disguised in some way."

Former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato...

"They decided that the document should be unreadable. If it is unreadable, it is not constitutional, that was the sort of perception... Should you succeed in understanding it at first sight there might be some reason for a referendum, because it would mean that there is something new."

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht....

"The aim of the Constitutional treaty was to be more readable; the aim of this treaty is to be unreadable... The Constitution aimed to be clear, whereas this treaty had to be unclear. It is a success."[1]

But never fear, our new Prime Sinister says that the UK will retain important opt-outs. Even the BBC are reporting this. What they don't say (fully) in this article is that some of those opt-outs include opting-out of human rights legislation that would impede the war on the abstract noun.

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