Valery Giscard d’Estaing has written a constitution for the EC that is highly revealing in the sense that it shows how far Europe has departed from the liberalism that gave rise to its civilization to the liberalism that posits societies run by managerial states. Matt Scofield has posted an interesting critique: Roadmap to Fleece.
“In this vein one should ask: we’ve come from the Magna Carta to this, a nearly 100 page bureaucratic handbook? Understandably this is a draft and lets not be shocked: everyone is going to criticize the document, especially the first time around. Still this document is quite a let down: it is much too rigid in its assumptions about the size of government and the stated desire for “solidarity” to promote equality/social progress are major problems I’ve addressed above. Yes they agree on democracy and some fundamental rights, and the protection of resources through a common fisheries policy and sustainable development intiatives are great. But many differ on labor & defense policies and what constitutes ‘social progress’. There is no guide rule to help smoothe over these differences -- it will likely be politicians debating what exactly ‘social progress’ constitutes while safe from direct accountability in the murky realms of bureacracy.”
