French and Dutch Reject EU Constitution

French and Dutch Reject EU Constitution

It's been a momentous week for Europe with the rejection -- in two referendums in France and then the Netherlands -- of the European Union's new constitution. Many EU leaders say the process of ratification should go on until every country has had its say. Others aren't so sure. Ten out of the twenty-five countries have already ratified the constitutional treaty, but the French and the Dutch have shocked Europe's ruling elite. Chris Morris, in Brussels, has been watching the constitution develop since the idea was first born.

I can remember pretty clearly the first TV interview I did from a European summit here in Brussels. It was nearly four years ago, early in the morning, with the temperature below zero, and the Atomium -- one of Belgium's most famous landmarks -- looked like it was growing out of the back of my head.

“This idea that they'll call it a constitution...” the presenter in London said, “Surely that'll never get off the ground...”

I seem to remember that I tried to snort dismissively, but I was too cold to manage much more than a subdued grunt. A European constitution? Do me a favour！All I wanted was a cup of coffee.

Later that day, with the sun finally up, EU leaders launched the great consultative process that was to dominate much of my time here in Brussels. First a convention, to talk about lofty aims, legislative details and lengthy preambles. And then the document itself... and yes, they did eventually call it a constitution. Don't worry, we were told, even a golf club has one of those -- it's just a name.

Back on that first day they picked a blast from the past to guide Europe into its brave new future.... the veteran former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Never a man to be shy about his own abilities, he thought he'd managed to craft a masterpiece -- the only constitutional treaty which everyone could accept. How wrong he was.

First of all it was the focus of lengthy haggling between EU leaders, and one grumpy failed summit, before a compromise text was grudgingly agreed. But over the past week the document they all helped coax into life has been hit by a barrage of medical metaphors -- depending on who you talk to it's either dead, or on life-support, or being wheeled hurriedly into intensive care.

Things were supposed to be so different -- this was the way the EU would connect with its citizens. The constitution would be the basic building block of a more powerful and more confident Union for years to come. But now -- in France and in the Netherlands -- the citizens have struck back.

"They took us for granted" said one man in The Hague as he jumped onto his bicycle after casting his vote. "I don't think they'll be doing that again", he added, as he peddled off into the crowd.

"We've already got our own constitution", said a woman further down the road. She stared at the European version which I'd just pulled out of my bag, as if she'd just seen a ghost. "Why on earth would we want that?"

So four years on - and my last European summit as a correspondent based here in Brussels is fast approaching. What's it all been for? Other things have moved on -- even the giant spheres of the Atomium -- looming over the skyline of northern Brussels -- are being clad in a brand new shiny aluminium skin.

But the EU constitution seems to have gone back to square one. This lengthy document, which grew from the seeds planted on that first freezing summit morning in the Atomium's shadow, needs rather more than a quick repair job -- the French and the Dutch have taken a couple of wrecking balls to the European structure, and still no-one is quite sure what will be left standing when the dust finally settles.

Never a week goes by here without someone explaining how they're going to communicate better with the citizens of Europe, and make the EU more accessible. If there was an easy way to do that, it would have been done already. The EU is a complex beast which doesn't lend itself too readily to instant explanations. Many of its citizens simply aren't interested; others are too quick to blame the Union for mishaps created elsewhere.

And that was crystal clear in the two referendum campaigns. People were opposed to the constitution for a wide variety of sometimes contradictory reasons. For every French voter who wanted more Europe with better social protection there was a Dutch voter who wanted less Europe which cost them less money. For every angry no vote cast in protest against an unpopular government today, there was another cast in fear of an uncertain future tomorrow.

So it will take months if not years to fathom the real long-term consequences of the French "non" and the Dutch "nee". The EU will have to rethink some basic principles. But I don't think this is the beginning of the end of the Union. It could now branch out in a rather different direction of course. If the events of the last few days mean the voice of the people really will be heard -- then perhaps this long constitutional process will have brought some clarity, and will have been worthwhile after all.