Ouch

The Constitutional Court in Germany came down with a ruling last month that may change the future of our planet, at very least the EU. There was a lot of hype surrounding the latest European Parliamentary elections last month. Many EU advocates hoped that it would be the start of true democracy in the European Union. The constitutional court disagrees. The court told the German government that it had a responsibility to check the power of the European Union. That in and of itself is a damning statement coming from the heart of the European Union. However, part of the rationale given is a dagger to the Union's heart. The court said according to The Economist that “'no uniform European people' could 'express its majority will in a politically effective manner.'” In other words, it confirmed a sentiment common among many Europeans: the European Parliament is a joke.

We're mere weeks away from the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. For those not following the absurdity, the Lisbon Treaty is the "ends justify the means" treaty. After a more robust EU constitution failed in the first referenda it was put before, the Lisbon Treaty was watered down to be a) acceptable to as many people as possible and b) require as few countries as possible to actually have a referendum on it. The message on that was loud and clear: we can't let the people get involved or this thing will die. Unfortunately, Ireland requires referenda for a lot more things than most countries so the Irish had to vote to approve Lisbon. The first vote failed over sovereignty concerns (some real, some imagined). Now, Lisbon has been further dilluted to try to get Irish approval. If it succeeds, the EU could be more managable. I really, really don't like direct democracy most of the time. However, watching EU politicians finesse their way around the will of the people makes me sick.