Tuesday, 31 May 2005
The French Say "Non"
As you've probably already heard, France said "non" to the European Constitution. I wanted to wait to write about it until I had some concrete numbers, instead of just poll results.
There are lots of reasons for the rejection, and the effects remain to be seen. Those don't interest me so much as the situations that the vote provoked.
Extremists, right and left, were against it - in effect, unifying them. Businesses (who apparently stood to benefit from it) and moderate politicians (often former businesspeople) supported the Constitution. Employees and laborers tended to be much less favorable.
In the end, 54.68% of those French who voted were against the Constitution. 66.45% of Parisians who voted were in favor of it. Interestingly, the arrondissements least in favor of the Constitution were the 13th, 18th, 19th and 20th - typically, more working-class. The most favorable - at 80.03% and 80.52%, respectively - were the 16th and the 7th, home of some very rich people (the 7th is home to the Eiffel Tower, as well).
Clearly, this was not a Constitution by and for "We the People." I know more about its content than the average American, though not nearly enough to give an educated commentary on it. Feel free to give it a read yourself. Concise it is not (the summary alone is four pages long).
I'm very strongly in support of a more unified Europe. The Constitution would have gone some ways towards unifying previous treaties and clarifying the political power structure - both essential bases for future growth. But I'm less than convinced that this was the right Constitution.
The non-French media is already portraying France as having "turned its back" on history. Considering that the Dutch vote has never been assured (France was shown to be at least marginally in favor according to many pre-vote polls), this is entirely false. The French referendum didn't happen in a vacuum, politically or historically.
Rubber-stamping a law is never good, and something as important as a new Constitution is vital to take seriously. I'm hoping for a stronger Europe for all its citizens. Time will tell whether this was the right choice for France, and how it can be addressed. At least they were willing to take a stance.