French & Dutch NO - What does it mean to the EU?

The EU constitution was and is an ambitious undertaking. The complexity of integrating disparate countries with varied economic strengths, different modes of government (not all of them are truly democratic - infact some of them have not really shed their communist moorings), differences in languages and culture is truly mindboggling.

I support the tighter EU integration for 2 reasons: Firstly, the world truly needs a counterbalance to American geopolitical and military policies. Secondly, Europe's tighter integration can be a promising start for other continents to attempt tighter integration. I believe that nations whose fates and destinies are intertwined with each other are less prone to war, political abuses, xenophobia and the world will be a better place if these ills are minimised if not eradicated.

Tighter integration is possible and there is already a working example in India. If India with its many different relegions, languages and ethnicities can be a nation then so can Europe. However, there are two qualifiers about India: 1) It is still a work in progress, albeit of a progressively stronger and successful sort and 2) India becoming a nation was forced thanks to the British colonisation of the subcontinent as opposed to individual nation states voluntarily forming a union. If one keeps in mind the second qualifier then it is obvious that the EU is a bold experiement.

I believe, as stated in the Financial Times, that there is a deep chasm between the EU leadership and the denizens of Europe. There seems to be a certain sense of undesired grandeur in the affairs of the EU leadership. it will take a long time before this chasm is addressed. There are also other issues that the EU leadership needs to address:

1. What is the goal or Statement of Purpose of the EU?
2. What is the criteria (relegious, geographic, monetary, governmental) to become an EU member?
3. How will the EU engage the US and the emerging powers of India, China and Brazil?
4. What do the member states want - a looser federation of nations promoting laissez faire and democracy in the region or a tighter republic a la India and the US?
5. Last but not the least, what is the ultimate role of Germany, France and Italy in the EU?

These are nettlesome questions with no obviously easy answers. However, the EU leadership needs to answer these if it wants to avoid the type of fiascos the French and the Dutch citizens delivered it.