The defenders of a European Constitution are giving up

David Portante ponders the way the idea of a 'simplified treaty' is gaining ground in the EU. "Not so long ago, last January, the Grand Duchy and Spain were still leading an initiative that united in Madrid the eighteen countries who ratified the 'Constitution' and whose declared goal was less to dilute the already adopted text than to incite recalcitrant members to take another look at it. … If the Madrid meeting wasn't aimed against 'no' vote countries, it was intended to encourage them to pause for reflection. It was very specifically aimed at allowing the European policy contained in the Constitutional project to become a reality. ... A second meeting was indeed due to take place the following February in Luxemburg. It never happened. The French electoral campaign no doubt has something to do with this. Nicolas Sarkozy's victory definitely dampened the ardour of the more engaged 'friends of the Constitutional treaty'."

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