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A Political Cyber-Column By Rich Galen
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Old Europe, New Iraq

Rich Galen

Wednesday April 6, 2005



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  • While our attention has been diverted by other matters, something of significant import is about to occur in Old Europe - specifically our pals in France.

  • Regular readers have followed the thread: The French (who have never been much in the way of a world power since that business in Elba) keep pretending that what they think matters to anyone - in or out of France.

  • The French and their long-time allies the Germans have been extremely interested in the establishment of a European Union - which includes coupled economies, coordinated foreign policies, and combined defenses.

  • The mouche dans l'onguent is that the Germans and the French want to run this 25-member organization. The other 23 members point out that the Germans and the French haven't been such excellent diplomats over the past 100-or-so years and, besides, countries like the UK, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg - all right maybe not Luxembourg - have fairly robust foreign policies and pretty sophisticated governments without having to have their hands held by paternalistic leaders in Berlin or Paris.

  • It turns out that the people of France don't think this is such a swell idea, either. A referendum on joining in a new European constitution is scheduled for May 29. Recent polling shows a rising tide of opposition by French voters to surrendering any more sovereignty.

  • In Saturday's International Herald Tribune a piece by reporter Katrin Bennhold tells us there have been five consecutive polls showing growing opposition to the constitution and,
    "President Jacques Chirac, who supports the constitution but has been criticized for seeking to remain above the fray, [is] planning to step into the debate in the unusual format of a two-hour question-and-answer session with 60 youngsters on television Thursday."

  • Memo to Jacques: As an expert in public affairs and politics I can tell you that a Q&A with children - whether two hours or two months - will not do anything to dispel that feeling of paternalism we were just discussing.

  • On the "all politics is local" front, Ms. Bennhold points to some modest discomfort with internal French political activity including: "[H]igh unemployment, stagnant wages, unpopular economic reforms and fears about outsourcing."

  • What's next, making the French work in August? Or bathe regularly?

  • Will the EU Constitution create a "United States of Europe?" On its web page the BBC explains:
    No, not in the sense that the EU will become, through this agreement, a country like the United States. The EU constitution is a compromise between the demands of those who want more integration and those who want to preserve the rights of the nation states. The US constitution set up a unified country.

  • And even though the EU Constitution calls for "A president, a foreign minister, a parliament, supreme court, civil service, flag and anthem," the BBC says, "These institutions have limited powers and some sound grander than they are. Take the 'president', for example. The EU in fact already has three 'presidents' - of the Council of Ministers, the Commission and the European Parliament.

  • This system is perfect for France, Germany and the rest of Old Europe. Layering new bureaucracies atop previous tiers will allow individual nations to avoid making hard choices. When things go south the EU will be blamed. When they go well, the leaders of the individual countries will take the credit.

  • Which sounds eerily like the Clinton Administration.

  • By the way, remember the other day when we said that the nascent Democracy in Iraq may have been a bit messy but was better than any alternative? Yesterday the Iraqi Transitional Assembly (which earlier had chosen a Sunni to be its Speaker) successfully elected a President (a Kurd) and two Vice Presidents (noe Shiite, one Sunni) who will, in turn, select a Prime Minister.

  • It's working.

  • On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: A translation of that French phrase; links to the IHT and the BBC; a Mullfoto from Opening Day in Baltimore and the requisite Catchy Caption of the Day.

    --END --
    Copyright © 2005 Richard A. Galen

                                                                       

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