The French and Dutch votes against the EU constitution have highlighted a wide communications gap between European leaders and the public which must be addressed, writes Noel Dorr.
Two countries, France and the Netherlands, have now said no to the new constitutional treaty. Political commentators assure us that there was no single reason for this and they are unable to identify any particular aspect of the treaty as the problem. Some French voters want "more Europe", some want less. In both countries a general political malaise and dissatisfaction with the government played a large part.
This may be true. Nevertheless, the fact that two founding member states of the EU rejected the new treaty on the basis of such general, unfocused objections could suggest that voters in European countries no longer have any clear sense of either the historic importance or the practical benefits of the union.
What will the rest of the EU do now about ratification? One rebuff would be damaging; two is a serious blow. Some say the treaty is now dead and that Britain, for example, will find it politically impossible to press ahead with a referendum. Others say the European Council could decide some issues without treaty amendment.
The Taoiseach and the Government understandably take the view that Ireland, like other member states, made a commitment when we signed the treaty and that we should now make our own sovereign decision about ratification. So, unless the European Council in June agrees on a radical change of direction, we will have a referendum here sometime between now and October 2006. It will not be easy for Yes campaigners to avoid being disheartened by the decisions in France and the Netherlands. But if we do have a referendum they will need to conduct a vigorous campaign.
In a referendum, the treaty will, rightly, be debated in detail. There are, however, six general points which I hope we will keep in mind.
First, sovereignty for a small country in today's globalised world means a seat and a voice at the table where the decisions which affect it deeply are taken. Membership of the European Union has provided this for Ireland for 32 years.
Second, the Union is not a state, still less a federal state, and it has no ambition to be one. But it is much more than just another international organisation. It is something new and unprecedented in international life: a union of states and of peoples. The institutions of the union reflect this unique character in a balanced way and the new treaty will not change this.
Third, the union is not simply a project created by the six founding member states on the basis of a plan dreamt up in the mid-20th century by Jean Monnet. In its present form, it is a structure which, for the past 32 years, Irish governments, parliamentarians and officials have helped to create and shape.
Fourth, the new treaty is not perfect. It is a compromise between 25 countries - brokered with difficulty, and with skill, by Ireland last year. Its purpose is to make the enlarged union work effectively. If it is not ratified, then the EU will not collapse but it will have to muddle along with the less than satisfactory provisions of the Treaty of Nice.
Fifth, the treaty, though better described as a constitutional treaty, has much of the character of a constitution. Because of this, it frequently uses a "timeless" form of language which I would call "the constitutional present" or "the constitutional future" tense. This could cause some misunderstanding in public debate.
One article, for example, says that "the constitution establishes the European Union"; another that "the constitution and law adopted by the institutions of the Union in exercising competences conferred on it shall have primacy over the law of the member states". These provisions sound like something said now for the first time. But, like much else in the treaty, they are not new: the European Union has existed since the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 - even if it did not have international legal personality; and when we joined the EC in 1973, EC law already had primacy over national law - we accepted this in our constitutional referendum in 1972.
Sixth, the treaty may seem long and detailed - though it is no more so than many national law-codes. It could not be otherwise if it is to set a legal framework for close co-operation between 25 countries, which wish to remain sovereign while pooling that sovereignty in certain clearly-defined areas. But its overall structure is simple enough: it sets out the principles of the Union including much about social justice; prescribes clear limits for what it can do; details how its institutions are to work; lays down a charter of rights to govern union legislation; and consolidates policies developed over 50 years.
The referendums in France and the Netherlands suggest there is now a wide communications gap between some leaders and their electorates on European issues. Here in Ireland communication has improved since the first Nice referendum. But there is still a gap. So much of our public life is affected by decisions at EU level that we need a more continuous public understanding of what happens in Brussels and Strasbourg and what is done there on our behalf and in our name.
One problem is that the detailed, and generally non-partisan, scrutiny of proposals which now takes place in Oireachtas committees does not seem sufficiently interesting to catch the attention of the news media.
Would it not be possible for national newspapers in Ireland to report in a regular section or column each week on the main developments in the EU institutions? Those reports would often deal with mundane issues. But regular reporting could improve public understanding of "the European project".
It could also keep alive the sense of history which many of us felt on a bright spring day last year when 25 leaders gathered at Áras an Uachtaráin to celebrate EU enlargement, as we listened to Seamus Heaney's new poem and the European anthem.
Noel Dorr is a former diplomat and former secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs. He is a member of The Irish Times Trust