Referendum Not about Turkey!!

The constitution and Turkey’s accession are not officially connected in any way. They never have been, despite efforts of French Sceptics. Yet now we have a comment from major European politician which seems to undermine this.

The European Union should press on with efforts to extend membership to Turkey even if France votes No in its forthcoming referendum on the EU's constitutional treaty, according to Gianfranco Fini, Italy's foreign minister.

Which is a strange thing to say if the two of them were never connected in the first place. But of course the reason for this statement is to help Chirac in the referendum. By saying that Turkey will join come what may, perhaps he can take the sting out of the Non Side’s tail.

Mr Fini said the prospect of a French No was "a worrying prospect, very negative. . . The project of the constitution would reach deadlock. . . It doesn't mean that Europe would fall to pieces, but it would mean that the process would come to a halt."

The you have it, a worthy aim. If we can reject the treaty the process comes to a halt. Excellent. Mr Fini continues with a view on Anglo-Saxon economic liberalism:

The point is how to produce wealth that can then be distributed. If you have wealth, you can distribute it.

Which sums up the difference between true liberalism and so called Centre Right politicians from continental Europe. The point of Liberalism is that it is morally superior to collectivism. If you see free markets as a way to generate more tax revenues, you miss the point. I want to live in a Europe where individuals have a right to spend their own money and run their own lives. It is for this reason that I reject the collectivist European Union and all its works.