Friday, May 20, 2005

Oui mais non mais...

Valerie Giscard D'estang was singing the praises of the EU Constitution on the radio this morning and the first thing he reassured the listening public was that it begins with the principle that it is about "a union of states". What, I thought, you mean like the United States?

I've always been pro-EU and am actually planning to buy a place in Belgium (no less!) partly because I'm such a damn europhile, but I can't help sharing most Britons instinctive mistrust of the insitution.

If it even comes to a vote here I'll be faced with a government I don't believe, an opposition I don't believe and an EU I don't believe. Unlike most Britons, I've just had a peak at the actual proposal (see above). If you're not asleep by page two, you're a better person than me. Giscard D'estang is clearly no Benjamin Franklin.

This BBC Q&A provides a pretty good overview of the issues, specifically addressing my worries about our sovereignty being submerged in a form of USofA, and on the strength of this I would probably vote "oui".

Having said that most phobes would almost certainly dismiss the piece as pro-EU propoganda, which is ironic given that their so-called UK independence would almost certainly leave us with less freedom than the 51st State of the Union...

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