The Dutch say no

The treaty falters again.

An exit poll projection broadcast by state-financed NOS television said the referendum failed by a vote of 63 percent to 37 percent. The turnout was 62 percent, exceeding all expectations, the broadcaster said.

Although the referendum was consultative, the high turnout and the decisive margin left no room for the Dutch parliament to turn its back on the people's verdict. The parliament meets Thursday to discuss the results.

The constitution was designed to further unify the 25-nation bloc and give it more clout on the world stage. But the draft document needs approval from all the nations to take effect in late 2006, and the "no" vote in both France and the Netherlands - founding members of the bloc - was a clear message European integration has gone awry.

Will this be good news or bad news for Fools.

It depends.

If the reason the Dutch turn it down rests on convictions about the importance of subsidiarity, then this may be a good thing for the Faithfu. Civic associations and smaller organizations of society such as the Family benefit when subsidiarity is respected. The suprastate envisioned by the EU constitution did not appear to have much respect for this principle.

On the other hand, if this is the reason they voted no:

Others were concerned a strengthened Europe could force the liberal Dutch to scrap policies such as tolerating marijuana use, prostitution and euthanasia. Still others said they felt cheated by price increases after they traded in their guilders for the EU's common currency, the euro, in 2002.

"Things are going too fast," said Maarten Pijnenburg, in the "no" camp.

Then, "Houston, we have a problem."

If they're willing to refuse solidifying the European Union in which they are founding members just to preserve intrinsic evils such as legal prostitution and euthanasia, then this no-vote is bad news, indeed. There will be no check on these excesses from the larger society of Europe. Maybe there wouldn't be, anyway, but with a stronger EU there would be the hope. As it stands now, Fools in the Netherlands can't count on that.