Editorial
Do You Understand "Constitution"?
by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior EditorI would have voted against the European constitution simply because it is just too long. Any document with some 450 pages is not a good constitution.
A state constitution is the supreme law and the source of all other law. It should only contain the statements necessary to provide the basic framework of the law. If the constitution incorporates treaties and minute details, it is a bad constitution.
A virtue of the US Constitution is that it is brief. Some Europeans recognize that it would serve as a good model for Europe.
The constitution should set forth the divisions of government and the powers of the divisions. It should declare the basic rights of the citizens. It could specify a few prohibitions such as treason. That should be about all.
The legal experts of Europe should go back to the drawing board and craft a clear, short, understandable constition. The principle of subsidiarity should be implemented: the EU should have only those powers not feasible or more effectively done at a more local level.
Then, just maybe, Europeans will support it.
Copyright 2005 by Fred E. Foldvary. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, which includes but is not limited to facsimile transmission, photocopying, recording, rekeying, or using any information storage or retrieval system, without giving full credit to Fred Foldvary and The Progress Report.
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