EU constitution I: The price of arrogance
By Christine Ockrent International Herald Tribune
It was almost pathetic to watch President Jacques Chirac, the other evening, trying to convince 80 young French people from all walks of life to vote for the European constitution. It's not that his performance was bad: However fluctuating his European convictions may have been in the course of his long political career, his arguments sounded right to all of us interested in and familiar with the unique political process of the
The problem was that Chirac did not make sense to those he was supposed to convince. His words seemed to bounce like marshmallow against a wall of anxieties that had little to do with the constitution but more with the policies of his unpopular government. As to
"Never explain, always complain": such has been the motto of most French politicians, right and left, when it comes to
The president himself and his ministers often talk about "victory" over partners who then sound like enemies. They never acknowledge that many European regulations that they have negotiated have been the most effective way to impose change in a country that prefers to talk about it rather than implement it.
It should be no surprise that the French referendum on May 29 will not be about the text that Val�ry Giscard d'Estaing and his fellow convention members, representing all of
Some of them will even vote on market economy, misled as they have been by conservative politicians who do not dare to be lib�rals, and by socialists who tremble when labeled "social democrats." Previous elections show that traditional political parties today rally less than half of the French electorate, a situation that benefits both extremes, left and right. Happy to join forces with the followers of Jean-Marie Le Pen and the late L�on Trotsky, some politicians even pretend they have just discovered that for the past half-century
Those in France who still resent capitalism have little in common with the highly competitive, well-educated and well-informed French who operate in the global sphere and account for the overall performance of the French economy. Regrettably, the latter take no part in the public debate, where politicians and journalists talk primarily to one another. In turn, these professionals hardly share their knowledge with a much larger group of people who rely on the mass media for distraction rather than information, and who feel increasingly anxious about their own future.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether these French who express such apprehension about the state of their country and our globalized world will form a majority. If they do, they are not the ones to blame. It is the arrogance and deceit of too many French politicians that need to be addressed. Sharing the responsibility are all those of us in the mass media who for too long have also failed to explain the complex issues of the European process.
It was almost pathetic to watch President Jacques Chirac, the other evening, trying to convince 80 young French people from all walks of life to vote for the European constitution. It's not that his performance was bad: However fluctuating his European convictions may have been in the course of his long political career, his arguments sounded right to all of us interested in and familiar with the unique political process of the
The problem was that Chirac did not make sense to those he was supposed to convince. His words seemed to bounce like marshmallow against a wall of anxieties that had little to do with the constitution but more with the policies of his unpopular government. As to
"Never explain, always complain": such has been the motto of most French politicians, right and left, when it comes to
made. Consensus-building - the essence of the European intergovernmental process - is alien to French political culture.
The president himself and his ministers often talk about "victory" over partners who then sound like enemies. They never acknowledge that many European regulations that they have negotiated have been the most effective way to impose change in a country that prefers to talk about it rather than implement it.
It should be no surprise that the French referendum on May 29 will not be about the text that Val�ry Giscard d'Estaing and his fellow convention members, representing all of
Some of them will even vote on market economy, misled as they have been by conservative politicians who do not dare to be lib�rals, and by socialists who tremble when labeled "social democrats." Previous elections show that traditional political parties today rally less than half of the French electorate, a situation that benefits both extremes, left and right. Happy to join forces with the followers of Jean-Marie Le Pen and the late L�on Trotsky, some politicians even pretend they have just discovered that for the past half-century
Those in France who still resent capitalism have little in common with the highly competitive, well-educated and well-informed French who operate in the global sphere and account for the overall performance of the French economy. Regrettably, the latter take no part in the public debate, where politicians and journalists talk primarily to one another. In turn, these professionals hardly share their knowledge with a much larger group of people who rely on the mass media for distraction rather than information, and who feel increasingly anxious about their own future.
It remains to be seen, of course, whether these French who express such apprehension about the state of their country and our globalized world will form a majority. If they do, they are not the ones to blame. It is the arrogance and deceit of too many French politicians that need to be addressed. Sharing the responsibility are all those of us in the mass media who for too long have also failed to explain the complex issues of the European process.
Vali Nas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Ultimul sondaj in campania pentru referendumul european, ancheta realizata
de institutul BVA pentru saptamanalul "L'Express" releva un record negativ:
58% dintre intentiile de vot ale francezilor inclina impotriva tratatului
european.
Vali
---------------------
"Monsieur Sarkozy,
Je vous ai entendu hier d�clarer que vous �tiez tout � fait en faveur du
d�bat organis� le soir sur TF1 entre Monsieur Chirac et de jeunes citoyens,
et qu'il fallait voter oui au referendum sur la Constitution Europ�enne
parce que l'Europe que pr�voit cette constitution est et sera celle des
jeunes.
Alors pourquoi, alors que la Roumanie est candidate � l'�largissement de
cette Europe-l�, les jeunes roumains sans famille doivent-ils subir les
effets d�vastateurs d'une loi sur l'adoption internationale impos�e par les
instances europ�ennes au gouvernement de leur pays ?
Une loi qui les emp�che de voir s'exercer un des droits fondamentaux de
l'enfant : celui d'avoir des parents.
J'ai vot� oui des deux mains � l'Europe de Maastricht car je croyais � une
Europe humaine, une Europe des peuples.
Je voterai non � la Constitution Europ�enne car je ne veux pas d'une Europe
o� d�sormais seuls comptent la croissance �conomique et les profits
financiers."
Sylvie
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