EU insists "Non" means "Oui"

France will be voting next Sunday on a referendum concerning the EU constitution. For some time it was assumed without a second's thought that France would vote in favor of the constitution by a large margin. But in the past several weeks polling has shown that the majority of French citizens will vote "Non" on the measure.

The polling has boosted the momentum of the "non" campaign and has put French leaders into full panic mode. All 25 members of the European Union must vote in favor of ratification for the document to be valid. So a rejection of the constitution by the French would basically kill the EU constitution.

It has been said over and over again that no "Plan B" exists should the French vote down constitution. But with the French vote approaching, and opinion polls still suggesting a defeat, it seems the EUROcrats in Brussels have cooked up a plan to save the constitution should the French vote no. The Sunday Telegraph reports:

Until now senior EU figures, including José Manuel Barroso, the commission president, have said that there is no "plan B" if the French reject the constitutional treaty next Sunday, suggesting that it will effectively be killed off by a No vote. The Sunday Telegraph has established, however, that the 25 EU members plan to issue an emergency joint statement if rejection is by a small margin.

The statement would insist that the constitution, the blueprint for the EU's political future, lives on and that ratification must continue. The treaty has to be endorsed by all 25 states to take effect.

Wow, European democracy in action folks. If the slovene masses don't vote in favor of the elite's grand scheme, screw'em!

First, notice how all 25 members of the EU will be issuing a joint statement. A more accurate phrasing of that is the technocrats that represent the 25 EU members will be issuing an emergency joint statement. If the French reject the constitution by a majority vote, they can't very well be one of the "EU members" issuing an emergency measure to save the thing.

Second, it appears that European democracy means that losing by a "small margin" is in fact a victory. By the way, I wonder who gets to decide what constitutes a "small margin". A bunch of pro-European judges in Brussels? I have a feeling the Democratic party in the US would just love to apply this rule in states like Ohio.

Finally, for them to insist that "the consitution lives on" after being voted down would be incredibly pathetic. So pathetic in fact I would like to see them try. It would interesting to see if Europeans just roll over and take it, or if they actually rally against the tyranny of Brussels.