Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Proposed EU Constitution is 265 Pages
The U.S. Congress might vote for telephone book sized legislation without reading it, but that's no reason why ordinary people should.
You can read the whole draft EU Constitution here (pdf) but why would you want to? I tried. It is full of all kinds of technical jargon (e.g., "principle of loyal cooperation") you'd need a lawyer to decipher.
There's lots of good-sounding phrases in it, to be sure, but then there are zingers like
Even the U.S. Constitution, succinct and readable as it is, has been twisted all out of shape over the last two centuries. (e.g., What about, "Congress shall have the power . . . to declare war," is so difficult to understand in 2005?)
If the EU Constitution were voted in as presently worded, it wouldn't survive a decade when tens of thousands of lawyers in thousands of jurisdictions speaking hundreds of languages working for dozens of governments get their hands on it.
The people of France and Holland are right to send their reps back to the drawing board. Suggestion: make them write it in longhand. Five pages, max. Then hire an editor.
You can read the whole draft EU Constitution here (pdf) but why would you want to? I tried. It is full of all kinds of technical jargon (e.g., "principle of loyal cooperation") you'd need a lawyer to decipher.
There's lots of good-sounding phrases in it, to be sure, but then there are zingers like
These objectives shall be pursued by appropriate means, depending on the extent to which the relevant competences are attributed to the Union in the Constitution.Oh yeah? Whazzat sposta mean?
Even the U.S. Constitution, succinct and readable as it is, has been twisted all out of shape over the last two centuries. (e.g., What about, "Congress shall have the power . . . to declare war," is so difficult to understand in 2005?)
If the EU Constitution were voted in as presently worded, it wouldn't survive a decade when tens of thousands of lawyers in thousands of jurisdictions speaking hundreds of languages working for dozens of governments get their hands on it.
The people of France and Holland are right to send their reps back to the drawing board. Suggestion: make them write it in longhand. Five pages, max. Then hire an editor.
Technorati Tags: Constitution, EuropeanUnion, Politics
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