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7/5/05

mondediplo.com: OPEN THE DOOR TO HOPE

Open door to hope

France, with its resounding and rebellious vote against Europe’s constitutional treaty, has again shown itself to be a political nation to its core. The vote, which created shock waves throughout Old Europe, was a moment of hope for the peoples of Europe and nervousness for its political elites. In taking this bold step France has reconnected with its historic mission and shown that it is possible to avoid the seemingly inevitable by rejecting economic and political faits accomplis.This no vote is of capital importance. It represents a setback to ultraliberal attempts to impose, all over the world and in contempt of people’s wishes, the economic monoculture laid down by the dogma of globalisation. Was this a nationalist vote? No. Mostly it was actually a vote “for” Europe. This has been clear to the many trade unionists and campaigners in other European countries who, at home and in their contribution to the campaign in France, have expressed their solidarity with the forces behind this no vote, and have seen it as a way of building another kind of Europe. Also, many Europeans, deprived of referendums in their own countries, effectively asked the French to vote no on their behalf. Outside France commentators believe that the no vote has weakened Europe in relation to the United States, leaving the American superpower with no effective counterweight. They are wrong. In fact the proposed constitution would have gone even further in aligning Europe with US interests (particularly at the military level).

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