FILTHY COMMONERS:

EU leaders and voters see paths diverge (Judy Dempsey and Katrin Bennhold, JUNE 18, 2005, International Herald Tribune)

When three European Union leaders announced that ratification of the EU constitution would be "postponed for a period of reflection," they blamed neither the document's architects nor themselves. They blamed the European public.

The French and Dutch voters who said no to the charter did not really reject the constitution, the EU officials said Thursday night, they just failed to understand it. The comments, after nearly three weeks of soul-searching about Europe's direction, spoke less of a crisis atmosphere than of a surreal disconnect between Europe's leadership and its voters.

The fact that none of the three officials had been elected by Europeans as a whole, but were appointed to their posts, only strengthened the sense of detachment between voters and EU institutions.

Yikes. Even the Times has figured it out.

Posted by orrinj at June 18, 2005 7:52 AM