La France dit NON!

Yesterday the course of European unification took a major hit as the French, in a nation-wide referendum, voted NON to adopting the new European Union constitution. EU regulations require that all 25 countries in the expanded Union ratify the constitution and thus far nine (including Germany and Italy) have done so. France, in spite of being one of the founding nations of the EU and (up till now) a powerful force for European integration, failed to ratify as 56% of French voters said NON and about 46% OUI.

The government of French President Jacques Chirac lobbied strongly for the YES vote but succumbed to growing attacks on the Constitution from both the right and the left of France’s complex political landscape. Counted among the anti-EU forces was the ultra-right wing nationalist (and racist) National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen. His unlikely allies included the French Communist Party (yes there are still communists in France—practically nowhere else in the world—but still in France!).

As was the case in the North-Rhine Westphalia elections in Germany a week ago, economic factors seem to have predominated in the French electorate’s decision making process. There seems to have been considerable anxiety that the new EU rules under the constitution document would make it easier for cheap eastern European labor to flood into France and out compete the better compensated French laborers and tradesmen. The bulk of the newbies granted EU membership recently have been eastern European nations that were former members of the Soviet empire. An additional concern expressed by NON voters was a perceived loss of French sovereignty and power should the EU Constitution as currently written take effect. It is worth remembering that it was France, alone among western European nations that insisted post-WWII on having its own, independent nuclear deterrent. The French don’t seem comfortable with Brussels calling the shots!

Among the casualties caught in the overkill of the NO vote may be Turkey which has recently begun seeking EU membership (the negotiations to join the EU are known as accession talks). Turkey is hoping to become the first, predominantly Muslim nation, to fulfill entrance requirements for EU membership and to join the club. The NO vote on the Constitutional referendum in France raises serious issues of whether the EU will be able to develop as a unified economic and political counterweight to the current dominance of the United States and the growing economic power of China. On Wednesday of this week, the Dutch will be going to the polls to vote on ratification and current polling data suggest they may very well also reject the Constitution document.

Rot-Gruen geht unter!

This past week saw two important elections in Europe (well, one election and one referendum) the results of which will loom large for Germans, all Europeans and essentially everybody else!

First, in the German Land (state) of North-Rhine Westphalia (capital-Düsseldorf) the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) and their coalition partner die Grüne (the Greens) were soundly defeated by the more conservative, CDU (Christlich-Demokratische Union). The SPD has ruled in this, the most populous and most heavily industrialized of the German Länder since 1966 and their defeat here does not bode well for Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his SPD- Grüne coalition that is currently running the country in Berlin. Der Bundeskanzler has, in fact, called for an early national election for this September 18 (a year earlier than originally planned) in the hope of retaining a majority in the Bundestag against his main foes the CDU led by Angela Merkel and their Bavarian sister party, the CSU (Christlich-Soziale Union). In spite of their names, the CDU and CSU are not religious parties but are somewhat analogous to our Republican party in the USA while the SPD corresponds to the Democrats (these are rough analogies).

The principal reasons for der Untergang (downfall) of the SPD in North-Rhine Westphalia seem to stem mainly from voter discontent and anxiety over the German economy which, after decades of increasingly powerful performance (the so-called post-World War Two Wirtschaftswunder [economic miracle]) has recently been taking a serious beating. Economic growth is Germany is the slowest in all of the EU countries and unemployment in Germany as a whole is up to around 12% (something over 5 million arbeitslose [unemployed]). This is the highest it has been since 1945 and in some parts of the former DDR (East Germany) it is higher still. At least a portion of this economic distress is due to the extremely high cost of German reunification. Beginning immediately after die Einheit, the government of then Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU) and all subsequent governments in Berlin poured hundreds of billions of dollars into the crumbling infrastructure of the former Communist East Germany. Schröder and the SPD have been pushing two sets of economic reforms, Hartz IV and Agenda 2010 and there is considerable public unhappiness with what these plans would involve. Changes would be instituted in the incredibly potent social safety net in Germany—unemployment, health care, education and other social benefits that Germans have become accustomed to as the payback from their government for their (by American standards) incredibly high income tax rates would be cut. This summer, you will definitely be hearing from your German friends and hosts about their feelings on Hartz IV, the German economic slowdown, and what the fall election may bring.

Hey guys!!!

Guten Tag! I was just making sure that this worked. I can't wait until July, we are going to have so much fun!!!!

testing, testing, one two three

just making sure this works. :)