introduction

The European Union is less than half the size of China in terms of population – 493 million against 1,321 million – but whilst China is governed by a single government, the European Union (EU) is fragmented into no less than 27. Many observers, not only in China, considered that decision-making in the EU, especially after the rapid expansion from 15 to 27 members, was becoming increasingly unmanageable and that some streamlining of voting procedures and further transfers of competencies to a supranational level was necessary. The ‘Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe’ agreed by the member states in October 2004 was far from being a blueprint for a unitary state. Indeed, despite its 250 pages and 450 articles, it was far from being a ‘constitution’ either1 but most commentators agreed that despite its unwieldy text and its pretentious title, the draft treaty represented a considerable and necessary improvement on the existing situation. Imagine the shock, therefore, when in 2005, within weeks of each other, the populations of two of the founding members of the European Union (France and the Netherlands) rejected the draft treaty.

The referendum results shattered the complacency of the Brussels elite and prompted the inauguration of a twenty-four month period of ‘reflection’ before deciding how to proceed further. The new treaty has made very few changes compared with the one rejected but one of the outcomes of this reflection has been to omit any reference to a European flag (twelve stars on a blue background), a European anthem (Beethoven's ‘Ode to Joy’) and a European motto (‘Unity in Diversity’) – even though all three have been in common circulation for many years. The European Union, therefore, will forego having the symbolic trappings of a state written into a formal treaty – a significant retreat in ambition but probably close to current reality.

I consider myself a ‘European’. I have worked for long periods of my academic career in three different European countries. For eight years I led the research project into the History of European Integration at the European University Institute, an EU-funded post-graduate research institute in Florence. And, unusually for an Englishman, I consider myself a European federalist. I mention these facts because I wish to share with you a highly disturbing emotion I felt several years back.