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This Is An Ex-Constitution
It's kicked the bucket, shuffled off the mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. That much is clear, following Holland's overwhelming rejection of the constitution in yesterday's vote. Now all we need is a politician with the cojones to issue the death certificate. For despite the treaty's obvious failure, Eurocrats from EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso down still insist that it is "stunned" or perhaps "only resting." It is only a matter of time before someone claims it is pining for the fjords.
Will it be a Brit? On Monday, foreign minister Jack Straw is due to tell parliament whether or not a British vote will go ahead. Germany's Gerhard Schröder demanded that nations should continue to ratify the treaty - France's Jacques Chirac insisted they do so too a speech to the French people following the constitution's rejection at the polls. This morning, Latvia's government voted to ratify the constitution (Latvia did not offer its people a referendum).
It's possible that Straw will attempt to fudge the issue. Tony Blair is still on holiday in Tuscany, and though he owes Chirac absolutely no debt of help, he may feel it more diplomatic to allow the French president to accept that the constitution is deceased before pronouncing it so.
Moreover, Blair will not want to go down as the man who killed off the EU constitution - though the upstanding voters of the Netherlands and France might seek that proud title for themselves. Even though he would be stating the obvious, he realises that Official EU History will not be kind to whoever closes the lid on the constitution.
Besides, he will face criticism from home that cancelling the referendum in Britain allows him to wriggle out of his pledge to redefine Britain's relationship with the EU.
Looking further ahead, questions about how to redefine the European Union come into focus. The Telegraph gets off to a good start in its leader by demanding that Blair repatriate powers from Europe:
"Britain should seek to recover control over all those aspects of domestic policy which do not directly impact on the internal affairs of another member state. These include taxation, industrial policy, social policy, asylum and immigration policy and employment law."
That would be a good start, though it's difficult to imagine Blair taking this course. It's a position he must consider, however: Wounded animals tend to fight back with greater ferocity, and it is highly likely that somewhere deep within the corridors of Brussels, a visionary is mulling over the possibility that the people rejected the constitution because it was not federalist enough. Governments - and Eurorealists - better start coming up with good ideas!
