On the EU Constitution

Now that the Dutch, following the lead of the French, have resoundingly rejected the adoption of the proposed EU Constitution, it's back to square one for the Brussels bureaucrats and Europe-wide political elites who have spent their lives and much of their political capital pursuing the cause of European integration.

This is a good sign, as the constitution took some of the worst provisions regarding "rights" from effectively non-binding international law and attempted to enshrine them into the law of Europe. But the text of the constitution goes further, elevating some positive rights to entitlements. Some highlights:

...The Union recognises and respects the entitlement to social security benefits and social services providing protection in cases such as maternity, illness, industrial accidents, dependency or old age, and in the case of loss of employment, in accordance with the rules laid down by Union law and national laws and practices.

...In order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources.

...Everyone has the right of access to preventive health care and the right to benefit from medical treatment under the conditions established by national laws and practices. A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities.

While these are all grand ideals, the constitutionalisation of universal entitlements does nothing to direct state assistance to those who require it most (i.e. not the rich). At the same time, the attenuation of every conceivable social programme to a "right" only denigrates the very concept of rights for which much ink and blood has been spilled over the course of European history.

The drafters need to go back to the drawing board on this one, folks.