The negative votes of France and Holland with regard to the referendum show that people don’t value the European Union. In France, it is considered to be too liberal and permeated by the “Anglo Saxon model”. What has had an impact in Holland has been the Turkey issue and the immigration, apart from the Dutch contribution to the budget. Those who opposed the constitution did not care about the institutional structure. They just wanted answers about employment, security and peace.
Today, the European leaders recognize that the European Union is necessary to meet the challenges of globalization but people’s opinions are different. The crisis of referendums was aggravated by the lack of action in different spheres, especially on the budget and trade relations as well as the measures with regard to services or terrorism.
We have to change the European Union to make progress. The European Constitution is not dead.

Josep Borrell
Source
The Independent (U.K.)

“’The EU Constitution will not go away; we will return to it”, by Josep Borrell, The Independent, November 10, 2005. This text has been adapted from a speech delivered at Chatham House, London.