Letter from Paris

by socialist Sun May 29, 2005 20:16

What kind of impact are the LCR and LO having? Is the anti-constitution vote a left vote as I suspect? (ie against social cuts, against neo-liberal policies, etc.) What impact are the right-wing anti-constitution side having? Any lessons for the Irish anti-EU Constitution campaign if/when referendum is called?

by iosaf Sun May 29, 2005 22:00

suppose this might mean you'll need the services of an organist some day, or will it be a civil registry job?
if its a church job, I'll volunteer. And are either of you going to put on the superhero costumes and come vomit on barcelona some weekend as part of your stag/hen-nights?

by Eoin Sun May 29, 2005 22:02

The first IPSO/DELL poll of 22:00 CET says 55 percent voted AGAINST the Treaty.

by :-) Sun May 29, 2005 23:30

international news sources confirm trusted pleni-potentiary sunday papers anchor man Eoin (recently engaged to nina) Dubsky's analysis.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5827192&cKey=1117398050000
It has been a resounding NON! from the gauls.
Right wing Commentators and journalists on the gravy train are blaming the result on reduced apathy due to weather factors, and a sudden increase in cynicism.

by John Meehan Mon May 30, 2005 01:45

Campaign Against the EU Constitution
Press statement – immediate release
French NON is first step to Europe of social and environmental priorities

The decisive NON to the EU Constitution in the French referendum is the first step towards a new direction for Europe. The ordinary people of France have voted NON to the privatisation of public services, to the profit motive of the market dominating all aspects of life, and to further centralisation of decision-making in the hands of the EU elite. They have rejected a European Constitution that enshrines competition above solidarity – a Constitution that makes people in work compete for their jobs and wages against the unemployed and makes the poor compete against the very poor for scarce resources.
The French NON is a demand for a different Europe to the free-market politics of the EU Constitution – which would set in stone the same neo-liberal policies being imposed by the French government, and supported by many other European governments and the European Commission. This NON is a setback for neo-liberal politics throughout the EU. It is the first step towards an alternative direction for Europe, where the needs of ordinary people come first.
The leaders of other European countries and the European Commission must accept the French vote. There must be no campaign for a re-run of the French referendum and no anti-democratic back-room deals. The EU Constitution cannot now come into force and must be abandoned.
There should now begin a Europe-wide discussion on an alternative direction for Europe, with the NON campaign in France as its starting point. It should be public, open and inclusive - involving all parts of society and not based only upon the views of ‘experts’ or elected representatives.
The NON campaign in France has brought together a wide range of people - including public sector workers, the French radical Left, environmentalists, and those who seek an alternative to the global rule of the market - in a united movement against the politics of the EU Constitution. The movement in France is mirrored in other European countries, including Ireland. We look forward to the French movement continuing to campaign against neo-liberalism and militarism – and likewise the movement in other countries. For it is this movement that can begin to provide an alternative to the failed politics of the right and to the failed leaders of the traditional social-democratic parties.

by Justin Moran - Sinn Féin Mon May 30, 2005 12:13

Congratulations to Eoin & Nina.

And congratulations to the people of France, and presumptuous congratulations to the people of the Netherlands.

All that said, in the midst of the excitement and joy at a Left No in France, we will be fighting a referendum in Ireland and people need to start getting organised.

by redjade Mon May 30, 2005 14:48

here's a couple shots of anti-EU Constitution posters in Paris, both Right and Left, from last February...

by redjade Mon May 30, 2005 17:35

For our part, the Government is continuing to prepare for ratification of the European Constitution by the target date of November 2006. We have recently published the Referendum Bill and look forward to the start of debate in the Oireachtas. The Referendum Commission will shortly be established and the Government will soon be publishing a full White Paper to help inform the public.

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=199&docID=2013

by redjade Mon May 30, 2005 18:34

→ Defeat in France: Europe needs to speak for itself
Unfortunately, it looks like this new constitution won't be passed, for two reasons:

1. People don't trust Europe. That's not surprising. People can't be expected to trust things they can't see and can't understand. People are getting scared. Europe seems to have a lot of power now, in terms of instituting new rules and regulation. Even though this power is often used benevolently (in the form of increased environmental regulation and respect for human rights) people are getting scared. A lot of the negative aspects of globalization are being blamed on the European Union.

If they look at the European Union's workings in any detail, they will see that their concerns are largely justified. The European Commission is basically not very democratic, and the European Parliament, which is elected by popular vote, has relatively limited powers.

2. People are depending on their national politicians for information and guidance about Europe. Not surprisingly, this means that it is easy to get Euro-referendums passed in countries where the government is popular (like Spain) and difficult to get them passed in countries where the government is in the doldrums (like France). Europe's destiny is being determined by a game of hopscotch with local political issues. This is no way to run a continent.

Whatever way you look at the problem, the answer is simple: communication.
http://www.eire.com/blogarchives/000233.html


→ French voters reject EU charter
So the French have said Non. It reminds of the day the news came out that Ireland voted No - I remember at the time some French commentators slating us for our ‘anti-European’ stance. Looks like we weren’t the only ones to have reservations about the deepending of powers in the EU.
http://www.gavinsblog.com/?p=2189


→ Non, thanks
The turnout was astonishing — 70 percent, which means that there's no way they can try to run this constitution past the people again. The majority against it was too decisive. By the way, isn't it interesting that on those rare occasions when the people of Europe are allowed to speak their minds on the plans of their masters, they usually vote against Brussels?
http://www.eamonn.com/archives/001836.html


→ The "wrong" reasons
It is hard to resist the conclusion of many of my free-market confreres that France, while doing the right thing by voting out the proposed EU constitution, has done so for the "wrong" reason of opposing Anglo-Saxon "ultra-liberalism" but resist it I will. Now, I'm a pretty "ultra-liberal" kinda guy. In French terms I'm probably a notch or two past "ultra", (perhaps a "mecha-liberal"?). But, this highlights the basic problem with the entire EU integration project: If France doesn't want "ultra-liberalism" - or more accurately a slightly more reformed and liberalised version of dirigisme - why should she be forced to endure it? What better reason can there be for saying "Non"?
http://internetcommentator.typepad.com/internet_commentator/2005/05/the_wrong_reaso.html


→ Vive la France!
I salute the French on their brave and correct decision. This is a sweet day for democrats across Europe! Vive la France!
http://unitedirelander.blogspot.com/2005/05/vive-la-france.html


→ Victory for Democratic Process
In a move of some wisdom the French have rejected the European Constitution. Congratulations and well done to the enlightened citizens who campaigned and voted to reject the 500 page constitution.
http://gaskinbalrog.blogspot.com/2005/05/victory-for-democratic-process.html


→ The Euro-Beer Championships
“What’s Europe ever given us?” is the question. Off the top of my head how about:
croissants, ABBA, Kafka, Dali,Cantona, Berlin Tekkno and somebody to fight for the last 1000 years or so.

But perhaps the greatest contribution Europe has given to the modern world is its quality beer. With the likes of Easyjet flying our culture-hungry, open-minded tourists all over Europe, more and more intrepid British and Irish are falling over in foreign parts after supping too much of the local brew.
http://nimagyar.blogspot.com/2005/05/euro-beer-championships.html


→ France says No! Should Ireland answer a different question?
My view is however, that the government should use this opportunity to put a different question to the people, essentially to insert a new article into the constitution to say that (a) Ireland is a member of the European Union, and to state that (b) entering into European Union treaties in no way conflicts with Article 6 and thereby give the Oireachtais the power to pass European Treaties. A clause to this could also be included requiring treaties such as this one to have to receive a two-thirds vote in the Dáil, rather than merely a simple majority to prevent radical changes being undertaken without broad support. Depending on what the general mood is, such a referendum could vote on a and b as a package or each seperately, but both would be good additions to the Irish constitution.
http://blogs.politics.ie/jjcarroll/index.php?/archives/21-France-says-No!-Should-Ireland-answer-a-different-question.html


→ Red states versus Blue states
While we'll await further developments, one thing for now is clear. Railroading over the legitimate concerns of EU citizens is no way to achieve a Union in the true sense of the word. European politicians must engage in a dialogue with the people of Europe about what kind of a Union they would like. If they fail to do this, the EU is on the road to oblivion.
http://www.freedominst.org/2005/05/red-states-versus-blue-states.html

- - - -

More Irish Blogs at
http://planetoftheblogs.com/

by Ciarán Mon May 30, 2005 21:04

The French No: A victory for democracy, a defeat for neoliberal policies, a
huge challenge for the centre-left.

Tonight the French have voted No to the proposed constitutional treaty for the
European Union. The constitutional treaty needs ratification in all 25
member countries before it can become effective. The very clear result of the
French referendum, with 55 % against and 45 % in favour of ratification,
effectively buries the EU constitution.

After the Dutch referendum on the coming Wednesday, 1st of June, which may
well bring another rejection as its result, the ratification process in
further EU member states will be a meaningsless exercise. The obvious
conclusion is that the process should be halted sooner rather than later.

The big question tonight and for the weeks and years to come is what the
French 'Non' signifies and what it implies -- for France, Europe and the
world.

For people on the centre-left there is reason to celebrate and reason for
caution. The landmark parameters of the French No are clear: democracy and
anti-neoliberalism have won tonight, but a weakened European Union will need
time to redefine itself. Meanwhile, the European Union is likely to continue
along its present path of militarisation and liberalisation.

Democratic Resurgence

In all member states of the European Union, with the possible exception of
Poland, the political elites are overwhelmingly in favour of the EU
constitution. France is no exception. Evidently, the French No tonight only
became possible thanks to mass-mobilisation from below. The French far-right
and far-left, with a combined strength of perhaps 20 % of the votes have long
voiced criticism of the European integration project. However, the credit for
tonight’s no goes less to them than to centre-left grassroots. They are the
ones who now made the difference.

The defining role was played by Socialists supportes and activists who turned
against their party leadership to vote No, and by non-party political
movements groups and NGOs, including in particular the French branch of ATTAC
â€" the organisation that campaigns globally for a tax on currency transfers.

Since the 1970s, an elitist agenda for European integration has been defeated
in at least six different referenda in four countries -- in Norway, Denmark,
Sweden and Ireland -- largely thanks to mobilisation by popular movements
with scarce resources and little access to dominant media. Nevertheless, few
will dispute that the No in France tonight has more weight and vaster
implications, regionally, for Europe, as well as globally.

Like Lula's election victory in Brazil the other year, the French referendum
proves to the world that, after all things have been said about the demise of
democracy and political participation world-wide, universal suffrage remains
a real and essential tool for democracy.


The Protest against Neo-Liberalism

The Constitution voted down by the French has been characterised as the first
market fundamentalist constitution in the world. The technical arguments to
this effect, centred around articles I-4., I-30, III-130, III-315, III-323
and others, are important and they have played an important role in the
debate preceding the referendum. Nevertheless, it seems realistic to assume
that the French voted No less because of future expectations derived on
detailed textual exegesis than because of past real life experience of how
the EU has done to people during the past decade, and expectations concerning
the consequences of currently visible further developments.

While the constitution lays the foundation for a radicalisation of
neo-liberalism the Maastricht Treaty agree by EU-member states in 1992
already made monetarism the quasi-constitutional basis for EU’s economic
policies. Since then decision-making by the EU council and commission in
economic and social policies has been a virtual laboratory for
neo-liberalism, culminating in the so called Lisbon process designed to
enhance European competetiveness and in the Bolkenstein directive proposing
across the board liberalisation of the service sector on EU’s internal
market.

Accroding to polls published on the night of the referendum the French public
voted No in their desire to protest against the current overall drift of the
policies of the EU. The number one argument motivating people to vote against
the constitution was their sense that the EU poses a threat to the social and
economic condition. The second was that the EU-policies are “too
liberal�.

The message could hardly be clearer: the European Union has already travelled
too far down the neo-liberal dead-end. It is time to for a change of
direction, and to protect people’s security, jobs and welfare over
corporate interests and greed.

The Challenge Ahead

Given the strongly democratic, strongly centre-left quality of the French No
the political movements that brought tonight's referendum result face a great
opportunity and great challenge. The challenge is common to all green, centre
and left democrats in Europe and beyond.

Europeans need a new blue-print for their political cooperation and a new
blue-print alsao for their economic and social policies.

Politically the challenge is to work out a short and clear definition of the
rules that should govern the cooperation between the European states in the
decade to come. In order to lead Europe out of its present state of divisions
this blue-print must have the prospect of gathering the support of
overwhelming majorities of the population.

This need could only be fulfilled by a document produced by today’s No and
Yes parties coming together from all EU-member countries working for
solutions acceptable to all.

The effective outcome would be a slimmer European Union, concentrating on
tasks most people will think it is good at and working in transparent and
accountable ways. Possibly, this “lighter� and more democratic EU could
also be a polycentric one, with specific and partly overlapping regions, such
as Western Central Europe (EU-6) and the Nordic countries, developing closer
cooperation partnerships than found feasible for the entire Union.

In economic and social policy the challenges are perhaps even greater than the
challenges the EU faces in terms of reinventing its instutional structure.
Here, the best we can say today is that people in France, and perhaps not
only in France, have had enough. Neo-liberal reform has gone too far.

What the EU needs now is an immediate moratorium on liberalisation internally
as well as externally, as for instance in its WTO â€"policies. In the next
step gradual roll-back should be combined with forward-looking new measures
to democratise the global economy and to protect social security and justice
everywhere.

It must be readily admitted, however, that the green-left-centre of the
political spectrum that triumphed today has a long way to go before it can
deliver a consistent and ambitious, new, globally just and ecologically
sustainable social and economic policy. Until then the EU remains a continent
searching for a direction and a new identity.

The good news today is that in the eyes of a whole continent the neo-liberal
hegemony has lost much of its elan and its authority through a fair,
democratic vote. At the same time lots of new space has now, for the first
time since fall of the Berlin wall, been opened for socially just, democratic
political reform. It remains to be seen how well and how fast Europeans can
face up to this challenge.

Thomas Wallgren
Chairperson, Network Institute for Global Democratisation Founding Member, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - Coalition for Comprehensive Democracy University Lecturer,

by Eoin Mon May 30, 2005 23:01

Chirac chose to have a referendum on Europe, not because he thought it was a sure bet he'd win, but because he thought it was a sure bet the Socialist Party would split over the issue. They have. To him it was about the next national elections. Europe is quite neo-liberal enough for Sarcozy, Chirac and Co.

by John Meehan Tue May 31, 2005 00:20

The interview below discusses some interesting questions on what is to be done next :

http://www.marxsite.com/GBusterNo.htm

by John Meehan Fri Jun 03, 2005 22:22

This link brings you to a statement issued by the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR)

http://212.67.202.147/~ivnet05/article.php3?id_article=804

Murray Smith has written an article on the same site - International Viewpoint - giving the facts and figures on the left/right composition of the Yes and No votes.

by - Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:32

Opposition to the drat constitution included members of the centre left PSF.
ded by the former number 2 of the French Socialist Party Laurent Fabius, deputy for Seine Maritime, and one time prime minister of France (19/7/84 - 20/3/86).

In the December 1 2004 vote by the French socialists (centre left) on whether or not to support the draft EU constitution fabius led the Non! faction.

As of this morning he is no longer a member of the French socialist party. He and several others have been expelled from the party.

as of yet there is no statement on this at either his personal or official website, but here are the links for the archivists amongst you, (like me) who sort of like the threads to lead off into the dim pre-internet past, when history was easier.

personal-
http://www.laurent-fabius.net/
official-
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/12/tribun/fiches_id/1268.asp

by John Meehan Sat Jun 11, 2005 01:17

Willem Bos analyses the different components of the Dutch No to the EU Constitution in this article on the International Viewpoint Site :

http://212.67.202.147/%7Eivnet05/print_article.php3?id_article=815

by Freudian slip Sat Jun 11, 2005 01:31

"Opposition to the drat constitution"
That kind of typo just about sums it up.