I'm not one for an anti-European rant usually, but I thought that I'd make an exception in this case. My problem is with a recently quoted remark from Barrosso saying of the constitution that leaders must "stand up to popularism" i.e endorse the idea of a constitution even though nobody wants it.
This is a rather interesting dichotomy in the politics of EU member states. By and large, politicians' interests are linked to those of their constituents as, should they fail to act in their interests they will, in theory, be booted out. However, should one 'stand up to popularism' and act against the interests of one's constituents in favour of the EU, then even if one is booted out, the option is available to transfer to a more highly paid job doing sweet FA. This somewhat makes a mockery of the democracy of any one state, and undermines the convergence of interests between citizens and those that represent them.
Many politicians make faith calls. This was recently demonstrated by Tony Blair in the war against Iraq, in which he said to the public 'if you don't like it, don't vote for me next time'. Politicians do this in the hope that posterity will (hopefully before the next general election) prove them right. Whilst I am not entirely comfortable with this, it is a completely different and less iniquitous thing than it's European incarnation 'if you don't like it, transefer me to a cushier job'.
I'm sure that many of us share the ideal of having a Europe that co-operates on many issues and meets to show solidarity where possible. However, many of us are uncomfortable about doing anything that looks like diminishing national sovereignty and european politicians should be aware of this. If provocative statements to ignore the will of the people are too forthcoming, then there will be less good-will on which Europe can unite, and Europe and all the individual states within it will be all the poorer.
