Behind the French and Dutch rejection of the Constitutional Treaty there is much broader discontent on several fronts. First it was a ‘No’ to the single market and the management of the economy. It reflected deep disappointment that economic integration has not delivered the expected results and has resulted in more constraints and red tape.
The ‘No’ also expressed rejection of the so-called Anglo- Saxon model which continental Europeans tend to describe as a ‘free market without a safety net’. But it is hard to find a real example of this, Britain certainly does not fit, since it has over two million people on incapacity benefit. However the European social model mainly works for those who are part of the labour market yet about ten percent of working-age people in the euro area are unemployed and do not enjoy access to these benefits.
