The constitutive project of Europe must go on. This is the attitude of many Green parties, and even the opinion of the writer for the Constitution No Committee, Arend Hamstra, who in this Ecosprinter gives arguments for why it was a good thing that THIS constitution was shot down.
Greens (like other parties) in some parts of Europe are split and torn after having had to fi nd a position on the constitution. Now that THIS constitution is dead and buried, there must still be some time to evaluate what was the content of it, and what possible mistakes were made in dealing with it. Those in favour must for sure evaluate what it was in their actions that distanced the general opinions in France, The Netherlands and much of the rest of Europe from their proposal, and also what the fl aws were in the proposal itself.
The people who campaigned against the constitution must evaluate the alliances with nationalist and conservative thought that were born.
But in the Greens, once the analysis has been made, it will be time to move on, and start, or continue, working on creating our Europe. One with an open citizenship, which welcomes one and all, and is social, gives the citizenship the basic necessities for life, guaranteed. One that is responsible for the environment and to the future.
It is clear that the Europe of the Greens has many enemies, it threads on many toes, and thus it needs at least a little cohesion, unity of vision among us. We must understand what a constitution is, how power is constituted, and from that understanding we must build up an effective, oppositional politics.
The FYEG Winter Camp will strive to be the beginning of such a focus. This will be a space for understanding what is to be done for our Europe to be born.