France/EU: 3

And so it is time for the long-awaited BoBW recommendation to voters in France for the EU Constitution referendum on Sunday. Somewhat to our surprise, our recommendation is that our readers vote Yes. Notwithstanding our concerns about many of the arguments made for the referendum -- that it will prevent a new Holocaust, that it will lead to peace and goodwill between all persons -- having read up on it, we conclude that it's basically a harmless piece of work that codifies things that the member countries have already agreed to.

That being said, we have no problem with the voting public in France and the Low Countries waking up and saying " ... but we never agreed to this stuff." Indeed as Henry at Crooked Timber argues, even if the constitution does tank, the process at least shows signs of a genuine EU-level political debate emerging in Europe.

We have been able to come up with one sure-fire argument for the Constitution -- it will cut down on the pomposity factor in the Union. As things are currently structured, any substantive EU decision-making requires a 25 country summit and associated Seamus Heaney poetry; with the streamlined processes under the Constitution, a bunch of suits can just meet in a low-profile way and get things done. Which is what goes behind the scenes at those Very Important Summits anyway.

The Constitution will also put an end to the rotating Presidency of the Union. Bertie Ahern being "European of the Year" should be sufficient argument against the current arrangement, but if that's not enough for you, then we recommend London Times columnist Anatole Kaletsky's point that current arrangements mean that when the Chinese PM wants to discuss EU-level trade issues, he sits down with the PM of er... Luxembourg!

By the way, the Constitution is actually a good deal for France, having been written by a Frenchman. The revised voting weights that it brings in means that EU's Original Six (France, Germany, Italy, Benelux) have a blocking coalition on just about any proposal -- better than they have under the current system.

So, the Yes campaign was botched. Voters were supposed to be impressed that Johnny Hallyday was for it. The No campaign made all the running with horror stories about Polish plumbers. DUDES! The Handy Andys of the East are coming regardless of how you vote for this thing. The elites never got the issues that motivated the No vote, because for the elite, the EU is just more jobs for the garcons. But none of these things are specific arguments against the Constitution. Vote Yes.