Antes del cantado anuncio oficial de Straw diciendo que 'no es el momento' del referéndum porque 'hay dudas' sobre el futuro de la Unión Europea, publica hoy The Spectator como cover story un largo estudio de Anthony Browne, Now for the British revolution [requiere registro]. Dice cosas que no comparto necesariamente, pero que conviene considerar, tras el resultado del referendum francés y holandés.
En resumen es ésto: una vez que ha fallado el modelo francés, Gran Bretaña debe mostrar el camino a seguir, y salvar la Unión Europea con su ejemplo:
"(...) The first reaction this time was straight from the old school, with Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU’s current President, insisting that Non really meant Oui, and that countries which voted wrongly would just have to vote again to get the ‘right answer’. But the shock as the European project crashes into the will of the people is so large this time round that few believe it can just sail on as though nothing had happened.
The EU after the French referendum will be very different from the discredited EU before, opening up the opportunity for Britain to save Europe from itself. (...)
The EU has finally foundered on its central problem — the one it has with the will of the people. Too often, European leaders seem determined to prove the Eurosceptics right in their claim that the EU is a conspiracy of elites against their citizens. National governments like transferring power to Brussels because it means they can bypass their truculent national parliaments. (...)
Indeed, Eurocrats believe it is positively good that they are not shackled by democracy. Dalia Grybauskaite, the budget commissioner, told me that Brussels was better than Westminster at sending British taxpayers’ money to poor British regions like Cornwall precisely because it isn’t beholden to the vagaries of elections. (...)
The EU has policies on domestic violence, accidents at home, racism, maternity leave for adopting mothers, TV advertising, culture, sport, consumer debt, criminal sentencing and smoking. But whether or not these are good policies, they should be decided democratically at the level where democracy works best. When I asked Margot Wallström, the vice-president of the Commission, why the hours that doctors work in hospitals were being decided at Continental level rather than being left to national parliaments or even hospitals, she replied, ‘Are you in favour of doctors being overworked?’ But as the former Dutch Commissioner Frits Bolkestein wrote this week, ‘The error that is steadfastly made is that because a cause is worthy, it must be done by Brussels.’ (...)
The EU needs an alternative model, and there is only one country in a position to offer it. Not Germany, not Italy, but Britain. Its economy is thriving and its political status is high. Tony Blair may face some difficulties, but he is newly re-elected. By contrast, Gerhard Schröder in Germany, Jacques Chirac in France and Silvio Berlusconi in Italy are all mortally wounded. (...)
If the French want to have high social protection, high taxes and fines for people working too hard, let them — but let the British work as long as they want. Let France set up a low growth and high unemployment ‘inner core’, although I expect they will be lonely. Let them learn from their mistakes, rather than impose them on others.
In contrast, the more decentralising, more democratic, liberal, outward-looking British vision would be far more attractive, with support not just from across ‘new Europe’, but from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, many of the Dutch and others. (...)
Quedan bastantes cosas entre estos párrafos. Y ya de paso, no está de más leer lo que publicó el día 3 el expresidente Aznar en The Wall Street Journal, ahora ofrecido en castellano por Libertaddigital. Empieza así:
Intentar construir Europa sin dar explicaciones a la gente tiene un precio: el no francés y holandés al proyecto de Constitución Europea. Desconfiar de los valores y los principios occidentales que definen la identidad europea tiene un precio: la desconfianza de los europeos. Llenarle la cabeza a la gente con discursos plagados de desconfianza hacia los Estados Unidos, hacia las reformas económicas, hacia el libre mercado, también tiene un precio: la gente se hace más desconfiada. Y además, ¿quién puede confiar en un Consejo Europeo que cambia continuamente de opinión? (...)
Cuado menos, es interesante el arranque.
·····
Actualización (07 Junio 2005): Leemos hoy en El Mundo, entre otros diarios, que "Tony Blair lanzó un mensaje de apoyo a la Constitución Europea, que pese al reciente rechazo de Francia y Holanda, ve como una "una vía de futuro razonable". El primer ministro británico, que asumirá la presidencia comunitaria de turno el 3 de julio, aseguró al 'Financial Times' que Europa deberá adoptar "reglas para su futuro, ya que si no lo hace, no va a funcionar correctamente".
El Financial Times (ver texto completo) sintetiza así las declaraciones de Tony Blair: "I don't believe that Europe should relinquish the social model, we should have a strong social model, but it has got to be one for today's world."
Comentarios