February 16 2008
If we intervene as voters, we get spat on. It was only while talking to the real Euro-enthusiasts in Brussels that I realised how cross I felt about the inter-governmental plot – there is no other word – to deny everyone a say on the new Lisbon Treaty, the rebranded version of the failed constitution killed off by French and Dutch referendums three years ago. The underlying assumption is that we’re far too stupid to understand.

Next week, the MEPs will head for their upcountry palace in Strasbourg to consider the treaty. This will enhance the parliament’s powers, so don’t hold your breath for a No vote. But this is not an extension of democracy. Europe as a whole cannot be a democracy because it is too large and too diffuse to constitute a polity with a cohesive popular will.

Until the late 1980s, it was assumed that the Soviet bloc would go on forever getting bigger and more powerful. But all its power was built on sand and rubble. And the further Europe’s leaders distance themselves from their voters, the more likely they are