Europe "de haut en bas"? Not anymore
I've been travelling about quite a bit over the past week (to Binghamton, NY for a technology conference; to New York, NY for the ICA conference, though really to meet some old friends; and to Levittown, PA, for family stuff). But I've tried to keep up with latest developments in Europe, where in a weekend referendum France rejected the European Constitution by 55% to 45%. (See here for latest developments on the BBC; here for The Guardian; and here for The Independent.
While I've found all the coverage fascinating, perhaps the best roundup I've read so far of the whole sorry affair and what it means for Europe is provided by good old John Simpson, the BBC's veteran world affairs editor. Simpson has pronounced the idea of a United States of Europe "dead in the water" - something I've heard from multiple sources, though I'm more likely to believe it from Simpson. As he states:
- The entire project, noble though it was, was much too "de haut en bas" [from top to bottom], as the French say - handed down to the hoi polloi by idealists who knew the direction Europe should take, and weren't prepared to take no for an answer.
Simpson provides the sort of personal historical context that only an old-timer can serve up - after all he was there to report on the results of Britain's 1975 referendum, which secured the UK's place in the then-EEC. He correctly contrasts France's and Britain's competing visions for Europe, and suggests that Britain's vision may well now dominate. Well worth a read.
posted by hdougie at 5/31/2005 09:42:00 AM
1 Comments:
So let me see if I get this straight. Europe is now trying to be like the United States or are people once again trying to force the ways of the United States onto foreifn countries? I mean think about it for a second. Everywhere across the world countries are trying to modernize their nations according to the United States. Don't get me wrong being a citizen and living in the United States is awesome, but can't other countries stay the way they are and preserve their culture instead of trying to put Mc Donald's in China? (Just an example) If Europe or any country needs change then great, but poeple have got to understand its not going to happen easily. People become accustomed and used to the way things are, and when someone or a goupr of people decide that the whole thing needs to be changed, well I wouldn't blame people for being rejecting something totally new and different like this European Constitution thing. I think that after all the negative feelings that Europe has towards the United States did not help either. I mean who wants to become a "United States in Europe" if they hate it to begin with. The people need to change the attitude that people have towards this new Constitution because who knows, it could be all for the better?
Kateri Spellecy
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