OPINION:
Long live the Irish for being “the bad boy of Europe” for rejecting the referendum on the so-called Lisbon Treaty, which would turn the European Union into a superstate with a president, foreign minister, foreign service and more (“Off the track?” Commentary, Sunday).
The superfederal structure is an old utopian idea that already was around when I helped build in the ’60s what then was still called the Common Market with six countries. Nobody believed then that the superstate was a realistic idea (surely not then-president of France Charles de Gaulle, who already felt like president of Europe) but some political zealots kept working at it.
Even at that time, I worried about the open borders that would invite undesirable people to my front door. I was vindicated in that fear when, during my travels all over the world, I was robbed three times in Amsterdam by thugs hailing from North Africa. After the Netherlands and France rejected the treaty first, the Brussels bureaucrats overstepped their democratic principles by forcing the treaty through the parliamentary mill - except in Ireland.
Everyone knows Europe is not the United States; it consists of very different nations with very different languages and cultures. Yes, they appreciate the economic and social improvements after two horrific world wars. However, these nations want to keep their own identity. Why rob them of their right to speak up? Europe should continue to perfect the EU but avoid the superstate. Attempting to build a superstate would be “one bridge too far.” The United States would never accept the idea of the United Nations, “warts and all,” becoming a world government, either. I’ll have a good Dutch beer tonight with my Irish friends.
JOHN SCHWARTZ
Alexandria
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