Perhaps I will manage to make it clearer.Originally Posted by English assassin
First off, Turkophobia hasn't played any part in it and people's dislike toward Chirac a minor one. Actually the problem is simpler than that. While I'm certainly not a liberal, I found the economic part of the text acceptable (except the last paragraph of the Art III-145). I know that a well-regularized market is better for the customer because it generally means lower prices. Unfortunately, some people in France suffer from a terrible phobia, which blinds them: globalization.
Liberalism is of course associated with it.
Now if you take a text where words such as "market" and "competition" appear so often, it inevitably causes hysteria. However hard you'll try to show them it can be positive it will fail.
On the other hand can we truly blame them for fearing the liberalism? When I see what has happened to the UK or the USA I don't think so.
Of course your GDP is growing faster than the rest of EU, of course your unemployment is low but the UK is such in a poor shape that I pity your country. If the phobia of the liberalism seems to blind people, excess of liberalism blatantly has the same ill-effects. If you're rich enough, it won't bother you at all, you may even come to despise the poor.
Do you know how many poor are there in the UK? Ten million (1/6 of your population)
Your healthcare system is only acceptable when compared to that of under developed countries.
Diseases due to overwork are plaguing the UK. Sooner or later the doc's bill will have to be paid.
Only the rich can access to the best schools, no matter how much you're skilled.
Nonetheless, I agree with you, it wasn't the purpose of the Constitution and the "No" supporters brandished it wrongly. Yet, some people have voted no, and not because of this propaganda. I voted "No" because despite the relative progress the Constitution would have brought, it's not enough. What lacks in the EU is democracy.
While the new majority system was better, a decision still needed the assent of 15 countries, no matter the percentage reached and all the crucial subjects would have required unanimity and the Parliament wouldn't have received enough power to oppose properly the Commission (whose members are NOT elected!). In short, the situation would have been as locked as it is today.
For a certainty criticism is easy and viable proposals rare. I voted "No" because I hope Joschka Fischer's (German Foreign Minister) project -see below- will finally get due consideration. It's a shame our half-witted former Foreign Minister Védrine didn't want to hear about this project, which is in my opinion the only one that could avoid the foreseeable crisis.
DISCLAIMER: the content of this speech may highly shock the "Tories". I cannot be blamed for heart-attacks or nausea consecutive to the reading of it.
http://www.free-europe.org/blog/english.php?itemid=273
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