The French may have some smarts yet

I think the EU constitution is a bureaucracy mess that will sink Europe further. Increased bureaucracy and government overhead will not help Europe compete. Notice how the journalist (or the editor) throw in their opinion into the story even by the title. "Constitution foes" is not a neutral term to describe an opponent of the issue.

Also notice the problems that France is having passing this referendum, but the legislatures in 10 other countries passed the constitution quickly. The politicians love the bureacracy. Perhaps the French street is slightly smarter than those they elect.

Constitution foes fear for France's soul By Tom Hundley Chicago Tribune

Such are the depths of Francois Vincent's disdain for the new European
constitution that he recently uttered words that have not passed the lips of
many Frenchmen.
"I would rather be an American than a European," said Vincent, 63, who owns a vegetable stall in one of Paris' open-air markets. "At least Americans love their country."

Like many Frenchmen who plan to vote "no" in this Sunday's referendum, he is worried that the new European constitution will rob France of some vital piece of its national soul.

Didier Vernet, 53, a stallholder in the same market on Boulevard Raspail, thinks that's nuts.

"Do you think the French will be stupid enough to vote `no'?" he said with a
disdain to match Vincent's. "That would really be going backwards."

The French referendum Sunday and another one three days later in the Netherlands have unexpectedly turned into a crisis for the architects of the constitution.

Voters in both countries appear ready to ignore the pleadings of their elected leaders and reject the turgid 448-article draft that is supposed to serve as a constitution for the EU's 25 member states.

Thus far, 10 member states have approved the constitution, but only one, Spain, did so by referendum. The others ratified it in their national legislatures.

The draft constitution streamlines decision-making for the EU and gives it a stronger defense and foreign policy. The draft must be accepted by every member state before it becomes law.

The French and the Dutch have long been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the European project. When French President Jacques Chirac opted to put the constitution to a referendum rather than a legislative vote, he assumed it would be an easy sell. It now looms as the biggest miscalculation of his long political career.

Polls: `No' camp leads Opinion polls over the past month have consistently shown the "no" camp with a steady lead in the range of 51 percent to 54 percent. The only hope for constitution supporters is that a quarter of voters say they have not yet made up their minds.

Chirac's center-right government, the opposition Socialist Party and most of the French political and intellectual establishment support the new constitution, arguing that a "no" vote will cripple the European project and cost France its place at the very heart of Europe.

The opposition comes in all political stripes: dissident socialists who fear the new constitution will end France's welfare state; Catholic nationalists angry that the document makes no mention of God; trade unions that fear it will export jobs to Eastern Europe; far-right followers of Jean-Marie Le Pen who think a "no" vote will keep Turkey out of the EU; anti-globos who argue that the document is a plot for the corporate takeover of Europe ...