A Final(?) Letter To Valery Giscard d'Estaing
Debate Between Patrick Martin & John Martin
Thwarted By A Surge Of Democracy
Bringing Europe Closer Together?
France pulps copies of EU treaty
French pressure dilutes services directive
A Referendum on the EU Constitution will be held at some time in the near future, maybe this year. The outcome will determine the future of the European project for the foreseeable future and the future direction of the country is inseparable from the future direction of the EU.
It is clear that there are serious issues that need to be highlighted in the debate leading up to this Referendum. The committed pro-Europeans are simply for it and a have a totally non-critical attitude as their hallmark. Those opposed are also predictable in their opposition to any development of the EU. In short there is a tendency of simply having the same arguments rehashed for the occasion.
We do not fit into either of these categories. We have supported the European project right from the beginning and actively campaigned for it in both the UK and Ireland in the past—since before entry. But any political issue develops and changes within the context of all the other changing factors that bear on it. Political virtues can easily become political vices depending on the context, and the question that needs to be focussed on is the role that the EU now plays within Europe and in the world political arena. Is it now playing a positive or negative role overall?
That is the background to any serious discussion on the referendum and this area of the Athol Books site is to serve as a forum to debate and provide information on these issues.