Onesta's EU Plans

I'll give him kudos for coming up with another original plan for the dead 'Constitution'. But it must be said that Gerard Onesta's proposal would be a really, really bad idea. Up there with Duff's and then some.

The idea, shortly, is to cut the 'Constitution' in half, allow the constitutional part to be passed by an unqualified double majority of countries and people and the policy part only to be adopted unanimously. Quite how a supposed 'constitutional expert' can come up with the idea that the constitutional elements would require less popular approval than policy elements is beyond me. We'll leave the question how this will affect those states that don't ratify alone

Then there's the business of saying that we shouldn't open 'pandora's box' by renegotiating the 'Constitution' and simultaneously proposing an added clause that allows the Constitution to be amended by a double supermajority (similar to an idea expressed by Sarkozy). This is not too different from Merkel effectively saying that she wanted no renegotiation plus a reference to God in the preamble. She's retreated from the no renegotiation position, though not clearly from the demand for a reference to God.

Here and now, all the continued talk of reviving the dead 'Constitution' is the biggest obstacle to progress on the future structure of the EU. We need a better perspective.