Blair against the "elite"
Telegraph | News | Blair faces clash over move to kill EU treaty
Tony Blair was on a collision course with fellow European leaders last night over Government plans to kill off the EU constitution...
The German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, admitted that the French result had been a shock to Europe's elites but insisted that it would not halt closer integration, built round the Franco-German axis.
"It is a setback for the process of ratifying the constitution but not its end," he said.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister, whose country has already ratified the treaty, also insisted that the show must go on.
He said: "European construction is a grand project and will overcome obstacles, as Europe is not the problem but the solution."
Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner in Brussels, said the French government could well ask the people to vote again in a second referendum in the hope of getting a different answer.
"No single member state has a veto over a constitutional treaty of this sort," he said.
"France will have to consider its position: whether it is going to maintain a No or whether it is going to revisit the question and possibly come forward with a different view."
Laugh? - I am nearly crying into my cup of "Rosy" - no double moccha fairtrade lattes here, mate! The "Elite" is still on autopilot having assumed it would be a "petite non" - but it wasn't; the world has changed and something needs to shift to accomodate it.
For real analysis go and read some of the euro bloggers on the sidebar - they are far better at it than I am!
