Europe reels in the wake of the resounding French 'non', writes Gamal Nkrumah This is not just another flash in the European pan. On Sunday, French voters flatly rejected the European Union constitution. The no vote in France's referendum on the European Union constitutional treaty dealt a deadly blow to the dream of European unity. There is no empirical way to tell whether the continental project will fly rather than die other than referendums. What are the lessons? Legion. First, that Europeans want to have a say on the future of Europe. They are not prepared to let Europe's leaders decide their political future for them. The masses must determine their own future. Second, that ordinary Europeans have a clear anti-globalisation agenda with strong anti-capitalist tendencies. The shape of the future EU cannot be left to the whims and secret agendas of the politicians. It is against this backdrop that the EU leaders are scheduled to meet on 16 June for a two-day summit aimed at pondering the union's future. Europe is going where much of the world will eventually follow -- into the grey zone of continental unification. Europe has hit a soft patch. It is a salutary warning. Europeans are no longer enamoured of their own continent. The continent's electorates are forcing its politicians to have the EU returned to its founding principles. The Lisbon agenda of economic reform has been rejected by the French and Dutch electorate. Europe's politicians cannot press ahead with anti-people economic reforms. In France, it was the left that was held primarily responsible for the 'non' vote. "A masterpiece of masochism," trumpeted the French daily Liberation. The French and Dutch rejection of the European constitution prompted a continental debate on the future of Europe. Eurosceptics had a field day. However, the French 'non' doesn't necessarily mean that they were vindicated. Nor does it mean that other European nations avoid further referendums and ratify the EU constitution by parliamentary vote. Several other European countries, in any case, are going ahead with the ratification of the constitution. The Spanish opted for a decisive 'si', so much to their consternation, the French vote came as a shock. The Dutch 'no', not surprisingly, was a foregone conclusion. The French electorate is understandably worried about the deplorable state of the French economy, and especially the high unemployment rate and the influx of Eastern Europeans, many of whom are now EU nationals. Unemployment shot up to 23.3 per cent among the under-25s. Younger voters were especially incensed. Issues of international trade also played a part in the electorate's choice. And, why should the French electorate not be concerned about concluding the Doha round, for example. The notion of a united Europe was an idea that was sufficiently ground-breaking two decades ago. Today, it is not so novel or attractive an option. The bottom line is that the disruptive power of the French referendum over Europe cannot now be contained. As far as the domestic French political scene is concerned, the impact of the vote resulted in something no less ground- shaking than an earthquake. Jean-Pierre Raffarin was unceremoniously ousted as prime minister and was promptly replaced by the charismatic Dominique de Villepin, the blue-eyed boy of French politics and French President Jacques Chirac's own protégé. It has become glaringly obvious that the culture of anti-capitalist protest is thriving in contemporary France. The anti- globalisation movement is gaining momentum and is no longer confined to the realm of street protests. Today, the anti- globalisation meeting has become the means by which governments are toppled and continental constitutions rejected. Moreover, the anti-globalisation and anti- EU constitution movements are not necessarily led by blue-collar workers, but by teachers, lawyers, social workers, medical staff and other professionals. Outgoing French premier Raffarin somewhat pompously retorted that, "I've always been aware that what is good for the nation is not always popular with the public." He was quoting the founding father of modern France General Charles de Gaulle. Indeed, the culture of enterprise has never been as popular in Europe as it is in the United States. But an unfortunate paradox is emerging. Behind much of this popular and political railing against business lies a deep suspicion of the politicians. France is in the middle of a socio- economic muddle, its policies regarding social programmes, pension and health insurance schemes in shambles. The country is saddled with enormous social costs, the ordinary people deeply concerned about the future and the result was a national rejection of the first European constitution. The precise implications of this rejection vary from country to country. European governments should get on with the structural reform agenda that they long ago set themselves. The politicians, if not out of ideological conviction, then in order to curry favour with the electorates, must seriously take the European anti- business sentiment into account.
