The recent rejection of the EU constitution by France and the Netherlands has led many to question the future of the EU. Experts say there are varying reasons for the rejections, from anti-government protests to Euro-skeptics who are against the whole idea of the EU. Regardless, British leaders might be secretly pleased, because they have now tabled their referendum for the constitution, which was likely to result in a "no" vote as well.

The thing about the EU is that people are starting to question its usefulness and demand more accountability. The EU has done a good job of funding internal development in some of the worst areas of Europe. Sheffield is apparently getting a lot of money to redevelop itself, which is where all the projects downtown are coming from. What I think the EU has done poorly includes: a) treating countries equitably, b) wasting money, and c) trying to enforce decisions about lifestyle on all the countries in the union.

I think countries aren't treated equitably because there are lots of countries trying to put themselves first and gain some sort of advantage out of the EU. Apparently France has a stronger GDP than Britain, but pays less in EU contributions and receives high amounts of farm subsidies.

Besides high amounts of farm subsidies, the EU wastes money in other ways as well. The EU is based in Belgium, but France apparently wanted to have a seat of power as well. So instead of having one office in France or something, they move the entire government to Strasbourg for one week every month then move them back to Brussels at the end of the week. Obviously that is wasting a ton of money transporting all of these people, as well as needing accomodation in two locations. In addition, apparently the EU auditors have refused to sign off on the previous eight year's budgets, leading many to suspect widespread waste and graft.

Perhaps the most troubling step seems to be a tendency to make decisions that could best be left to individual countries. I tend to think a union of governments works best when autonomy is preserved on a local level as much as possible. However, recently the EU is considering legislation which would remove most vitamins from sale. The EU has also passed a law stating that workers cannot work more than 48 hours per week. Since different countries in the EU have different work and life habits, I tend to think it would be best to leave these sorts of decisions to the individual countries. Defense, aid, international trade, and foreign policy all make sense to be determined by the EU because they affect all of the countries. Everything else should be left alone.

It'll be interesting to see what happens now that the new constitution must be rewritten.