In through the back door

Remember the EU Constitution, you know, the one that Tony Blair promised us a referendum on? This referendum promise was set aside when the electorates of France and The Netherlands voted in their own referendums (or is it referenda?) against the Constitution. Also a 2005 ICM poll reported that 81% of Britons said that there must be a referendum before any parts of the Constitution can go ahead.

That must have killed off the Constitution mustn't it? Don't be daft, the problem that the EU identified was not with the Constitution but with the electorate. So the solution wasn't to change the Constitution but to exclude the European electorate from the process of ratifying any Constitution. How could this be done?

A lovely phrase in this article from The Independent (a paper I find with very disturbing views on many matters, but that is a matter for another time) reads "across the EU, policy-makers now accept that it is virtually impossible to win plebiscites in all the key countries in the 27-nation bloc. In addition to the UK the Netherlands now hopes to avoid a referendum and Nicholas Sarkozy, the front-runner in the French presidential elections, has said he would not put a new treaty to the people." So if we, the electorate, can not be trusted to vote correctly, then our Lords and Masters must make the decision for us. What of Denmark, another country with a Euro Sceptic (or more accurately Euro Realist) population? From the same article we read "Another country with Eurosceptic public opinion, Denmark, is considering its position and its Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said that an agreement might not require a popular vote." Tony Blair that bastion of democracy says "If it's not a constitutional treaty, so that it alters the basic relationship between Europe and the member states then there isn't the same case for a referendum."

So what's the plan? Germany are in the rotating chair at the moment and a 12 point questionnaire has been sent by Germany to each of the national governments. I have found a copy on the UKIP site and you can see the whole text here. The points that should most worry you are 2,3 & 4:

"2. How do you assess... the proposal made by some Member States that the consolidated approach of part 1 of the Constitutional Treaty is preserved, with the necessary presentational changes resulting from the return to the classical method of treaty changes?" In other words, do you think if we call it a Treaty not a Constitution, like we did in the past, we could get away with it?

"3. How do you assess... the proposal made by some Member States to use different terminology without changing the legal substance for example with regard to the title of the treaty, the denomination of EU legal acts and the Union’s Minister for Foreign Affairs?" In other words, do you think if we just change the terminology from that of the Constitution we could get away with implementing it?

"4. How do you assess the proposal made by some Member States to drop the article that refers to the symbols of the EU?" In other words if we drop all the stuff about flags and anthems will the plebs buy it?


Having read that last point, look at what Tony Blair had to say back in April. "Mr Blair told journalists on Thursday that a treaty amending the existing legal base would not have the characteristics of the constitution which aimed to re-establish the Union with the trappings of statehood, such as a flag and anthem." Well Tony's bought it, or more likely decided to follow the plan.


When will the decision be taken? On 21 June this year, a week before Tony Blair hands over the role of Prime Minister to Gordon Brown. So Tony can take the decision, bind his successor and the Country and then disappear off to the US lecture circuit or maybe to be the first President of Europe, now there's a pleasant thought, or not! What can we, the public, do to stop this happening? The UK is a democracy, so the answer is of course NOTHING. If Tony Blair decides to sign up, he can; I think that's wrong, what do you think?





Yes the title is a rather mangled Led Zeppelin reference.