The European Constitution ratification debacle is perhaps symbolic of this orthodoxy; the routine assumption of the European Union as an entity constructed solely from its official member state constituent sovereign Nation-State elements and therefore subject to the tortuous process of approval by 25 individual State mechanisms, any one of which has the capacity to veto the wishes of the remaining 24; utterly ludicrous!

The notion that even a limited sense of collective affinity might actually exist due to common areas of interest to European citizens (climate change, migration flows; global financial markets to name just three of more obvious candidates?) is dismissed as mere fantasy in most mainstream media circles and suffers from active suppression on the part of respective national administrations, desperate to maintain their hegemonic grip on power within Europe’s institutional architecture.

The establishment of a single European Presidency does, in these chastened circumstances, offer a small glimmer of hope that areas of common concern might find a voice within the EU’s institutional structure. We can even dream that democratic legitimacy in the form of an elected office might form the next logical development in Europe’s slow pathway toward recognition as an effective player on the global geo-political stage.

One issue has now been resolved beyond reasonable dispute. Future constitutional developments on European import must be legitimised solely by simultaneous pan-Union plebiscites, the aspirations of 350 million Europeans can no longer be held ransom to the demands of individual member state electorates; big or small!

The early ratification of the Constitutional Treaty confirmed the position of Spain as a constructive member of the EU. If Spanish leadership has been less visble lately, the causes are elsewhere, in my opinion.

I would have appreciated a few reflections on the European Parliament and the EP elections in June 2009 in a piece dedicated to electoral campaign issues.