Word: eu
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...treaty effectively replaces the defunct EU Constitution, decidedly shot down by French and Dutch voters in 2005. After the rejection by two countries historically favorable to integration, Europe sank deep into institutional crisis. German Chancellor Angela D. Merkel has since pulled off an improbable and impressive political maneuver by drafting a reform treaty that effectively covers all the constitutional bases but is less than explicit about...
...first place, the “treaty” is no “constitution,” and this seemingly minor change in nomenclature has done wonders for its prospects of approval. Similarly, EU regulations will not be deemed “laws” in the future, as the Constitution had proposed; they will remain “regulations.” And although Europe’s flag and anthem are easily found on Google, they have been left out of the treaty’s text...
...Firstly, the treaty includes a permanent presidency to cement the sense of unity among member-states and avoid the constant vertigo of the many different agendas resulting from rotating presidencies. Moreover, it proposes two other important structural changes that would curb bureaucratic issues within the EU. Once the treaty is passed, the EU will achieve legal personality as one entity and, at the same time, voting procedures will be modified to address what critics have baptized “a democratic deficit.” Such changes will increase the EU’s legitimacy both legally and practically...
...having one person with Europe’s foreign mandate would answer Henry Kissinger’s famous question: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” This relates closely with the true raison d’être for the EU in the first place: keeping the old continent relevant in the modern world...
...Euro-skeptics around the world, the Union—which started in Rome with six countries in an economic alliance—has since grown relentlessly, adapting and surviving more than one failed referendum. In fact, the French and Dutch in 2005 were not the first to reject the EU; the Norwegians, for example, repeatedly voted against joining. The main problem with the 2005 vote was that many national constituencies confounded the EU constitution with a plebiscitary vote on their governments. For instance, most experts saw the failure of the French referendum not as a vote against integration, but rather...