February 28, 2003
GOOD RIDDANCE:
Giscard warns of dangers to EU treaty: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing issued a stark warning of the problems facing his convention drawing up a constitution for the European Union. (Daniel Dombey, 2/28/03, Financial Times)Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on Thursday issued a stark warning of the problems facing his convention drawing up a constitution for the European Union.Mr Giscard d'Estaing, head of the 105-member convention, said European divisions over Iraq had complicated the process and he was concerned at the large number of amendments to the drafts of the first articles.
The former French president dismissed many of the 1,087 amendments put forward by convention members, saying much bigger issues were at stake.
"If Europe had a common reaction [over Iraq], perhaps Europe could have played a decisive role," he said. "But the attempt was barely made." Mr Giscard d'Estaing said divisions were so deep that it was fruitless to discuss foreign policy issues and dropped a broad hint that the convention might need more time to reach a satisfactory result.
If nothing else comes of war with Iraq but the crumbling of the EU it will have been well worth the price. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 28, 2003 10:53 AM
Europeans have no consensus about fundamental political principles, therefore the EU can only advance in underhanded, backroom deals between politicians with private understandings. The more it comes out into the open, the less progress it will make. The Iraq issue has forced European politicians to take public stands, and Bush is doing a good job forcing them to continue taking stands in public by going back to the UN. It's worth a short delay in the start of the war to force Europeans to confront reality.
Posted by: pj at February 28, 2003 11:25 AMFrance believed it would control the EU, and the Germans encouraged the froggies. Its doubtful that those European nations with viable economies were really looking forward to a bunch of bureaucrats in Brussels dictating to them. Even the British are getting tired of the over handness of the Brussels crowd.
Posted by: Thomas J. Jackson at March 1, 2003 3:33 AMThomas:
Who has a functional economy there? That will last another decade?