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| France Votes for a Citizen's Europe |
| [Analysis] Poll-goers cast 'no' ballots to counter those who put the market first |
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Ronda Hauben (netizen2)  |
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Published 2005-05-30 18:12 (KST) |
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By voting "no" on a referendum to approve the EU constitution, French voters have created what has been called "a political earthquake for Europe." (1) The "no" voters won with 54.87 percent of the vote, the "yes" vote, received only 45.13 percent. Thus the "no" voters won with almost a 10 percent lead. Almost 70 percent of the French citizenry voted in the referendum. Celebrating on Sunday night at a party at the Place de la Bastille, the site of the start of the French Revolution, "no" voters expressed their desire that their vote be the start of a social Europe, a citizen's Europe.
For many years, the market has been stressed in EU activities. The question of how to provide for the social values and benefits that many cherish as the basis of their view of Europe has been put off until sometime in the future. French citizens, however, by rejecting the current constitution proposal, gave notice to their government and to the EU that the task of building a social Europe, a Europe for the citizen, is a task that has to become a significant aspect of European construction.
The desire that the citizen become a primary concern of the European Union was raised during EU negotiations in the 1990s. Quoting Silvio Fagiolo, the first Chairman of the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference under the Italian Presidency, the Polish researcher Leszek Jesien writes (2):"The defining point of this process will be the transition from the concept of the market to that of citizenship, by which I mean a greater direct involvement of the citizens in the running of the Union." (Jesien, page 2) While there has been an effort to label those who voted "no" as being hostile to the EU, this is an inaccurate characterization. Many who voted "no" have stressed that their vote is a vote for an EU that will be constructed on a different basis, on a more social basis than provided for in the proposed constitution. Also, those voting "no" complained that the constitution was too long, that it was too focused on business issues, that it didn't involve the citizens of Europe in its creation.
The debate in France over the proposed constitution and over the creation of a vision for the construction of a social Europe, a citizen's Europe, was a democratic event. The major political parties in France called for a "yes" vote. The "no" vote then signifies a rejection of the arguments for the constitution presented by the French political establishment.
Can the EU recognize the need to include the goals and desires of its citizens in its decision-making processes? Is it possible for the EU construction process to become a more democratic process? This is the challenge that the French "no" vote presents to the EU.
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Is the EU constitution now dead? (2005-06-03 ~ 2005-06-20) |
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(1) "The people of France created a political earthquake for their own country and the entire European Union yesterday by becoming the first country to reject the constitutional treaty by a resounding 56 percent." -- The Irish Times, May 30, 2005
(2) "We can only agree with Silvio Fagiolo the first chairman of the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference under the Italian Presidency..." Leszek Jesien, "The 1996 IGC: European Citizenship Reconsidered," Instituets fur den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa, March 1997, page 2. -- See for example, The International Origin of the Internet and the Emergence of the Netizen |
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©2005 OhmyNews
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 Comments Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity. |
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1. Norberto
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Darrin , 2007-08-31 14:36
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