Final Word from Thursday, March 17, 2005
Václav Klaus told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he "fears for Europe" because of the draft EU constitution. In the March 21 edition of Time Europe, he says "the developments in the EU are really dangerous with regard to moving out of a free society and moving more and more toward masterminding control and regulation." In the absence of real debate on the EU draft, Klaus is becoming the poster child for the No vote. Some of his critics say he's merely using the EU constitution to continue his battle against EU scrutiny of the CR's crony capitalism. But until others start explaining why an integrated EU wouldn't (in Klaus's words) be post- or anti-democratic, why the French should dictate tax rates in the CR, and why a centralized bureaucracy would prepare the EU better for confronting China-India-Russia, Klaus's voice is going to grow stronger. [Czech Republic European Union referendum mafia capitalism]