Vive la resistance

Tim Lehmann in the Weekly Standard reports that France may not ratify the proposed European Union Constitution. Polls suggest that a majority favors ratification, but they also show that many remain undecided. In addition, there appears to be serious disenchantment on the part of both the left and the right. The prospect of Turkish accession to the EU, though not at issue in the upcoming vote on the Constitution, also seems to be creating a substantial protest vote.
At every stage of its development, the EU has run into trouble with voters in some European countries. Even France only narrowly passed the 1992 Maastricht Treaty referendum, which led to the creation of the Euro. When voters have actually rejected Euro-initiatives, the response has been, in effect, to ignore the result and push on. I strongly suspect that, one way or another, the French will do what’s expected of them by the elites (their own and others). But the continued resistance of so many voters in so many countries does not bode well for new super-state.