Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
Display:
Ok, not a lot of reaction. Has this already been discussed?

Leave aside my snark, how do you feel about this - the fast-track approach to the constitution that is? In my view it would just feed resentment, but what do others think?

Considering how heated the discussion on the constitution has been, I figured this would create some discussion and maybe even ways to act proactively instead of reacting this summer when the "senior figures" has done their meetings.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Sun Jan 14th, 2007 at 12:50:49 AM EST
referendums are pest and should be forbidden. But since they aren't, one have to deal with them. It would be incredibly difficult to pass a new constitution in France (specially after the late "no") without a new one.

The only way of doing it is to have the right timing : pass the referendum when the government is popular. It seldom happens but there are windows of opportunity sometimes.

by oldfrog on Sun Jan 14th, 2007 at 07:52:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's undemocratic, of course. But the 'elites' can't easily get rid of the referendums (for starters, a lot of elites believe or profess to believe that participative democracy is a good thing). What Merkel will be looking for is no referendum in France, at least. If France can be brought on board and the other states that have ratified stay on board, the game changes entirely because then they can threaten to go ahead without the states that have not ratified.

I have tried to keep track of the persons and positions around the 'constitution' for much of the past half year on my blog, which you can read in the Dead Constitution series.

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Sun Jan 14th, 2007 at 10:01:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
it's impossible to avoid a referendum in France on that matter. See post below.
by oldfrog on Sun Jan 14th, 2007 at 07:07:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Occasional Series