Five Days before French EU Constitutional Vote

Fire of Liberty

Aside from this atrocious deal on filibusters which were cut by the "Gang of 14," I've also been keeping tabs on the upcoming May 29, 2005 EU Constitutional Referendum in France. As you know, I'm a strong opponent of the EU Constitution because it threatens to destroy the sovereignty of the individual European states and will wreak havoc on the Atlanticist relationship between the US and Europe. I guess I realize how precious that one's freedom and sovereignty is and it seems that such a respect for these ideals seems to be very prominent in France. One of the strongest voices on retaining one's sovereignty instead of giving it up to Brussels is Phillippe de Villers (leader of nationalist Movement of France) who noted in a recent rally before 5,000 people in Paris: "To have 450 million people run by 18 technocrats is a totalitarian idea from the last century." He furthered his classical liberalism beliefs in freedom and liberty by pointing out that "Ours is a No of the people, not of the elite." I'd say that Mr. Villers has read a considerable amount of F.A. Hayek and John Stewart Mill and seems to be a champion of France's sovereignty while President Chirac continues to push this highly unpopular Constitution to cement some kind of legacy.

This DeGalle like obsession of promoting one's legacy like Chirac has taken with this Constitution seems to be having a negative impact on the vote. (DeGalle believed in France's sovereignty that he pulled France out of the military leadership in NATO in the 1960's, I doubt that he would ever sell France out like Chirac. Which I could be wrong because they both are pompous French leaders.) This in clearly the situation in France, especially after you read this wonderful piece by Chistopher Caldwell in the May 2, 2005 issue of The Weekly Standard. As always, from his perch in the European countryside, Caldwell is able to get a better sense of what's really goes on in Europe beyond the scope of the MSM. Just take a look at Caldwell's work:

Since the Iraq war, Chirac's popularity has followed the same downward spiral from dizzying heights that the elder George Bush's did after the Gulf war. Chirac, though, sought to recapture a bit of the old magic by suggesting that the best argument for passing the E.U. constitution was that the Americans (and the British) dislike it. Should France vote "No" on the constitution, Chirac warned, "the free-market trend will spread. What do the Anglo-Saxon countries want, particularly the United States? They want us to stop this European construction, which risks creating a Europe that will be stronger and capable of defending itself."

France may not be turning into a nation of free-marketers and Yankee-lovers, but it is stunning to see how little purchase such arguments now have, how tired the public considers them. People are looking elsewhere for answers. Today, the leading source of information on the European constitution is not any of the daily newspapers but Etienne Chouard, who teaches classes de brevet de technicien supérieur (French for "shop") at a high school in Marseilles. In the past few weeks, Chouard's website (http://etienne.chouard.free.fr) has turned into a rallying point, a sort of low-tech French Drudge Report, full of simple republican sentiments. "I believe that it is fundamentally undemocratic to propose a constitution that is so difficult to read," Chouard writes.

Aside from Caldwell, we also have a better look at the polls in which the "No" vote is slowly but surely consolidating in France and is gaining in great leaps and bounds in the Netherlands. I know that the ground on the "No" vote in France could collapse at any moment but I have a feeling that there's a considerable amount of people in France who love their national sovereignty more than to just cede it away to Brussels because Chirac and his buddies say they should.