A great correction from Christoph Kohring in the land of the free and home of the brave (Switzerland):

"Dear Lew, on your blog you wrote: 'The French got to vote No on a highly centralized, no-secession, hyper-expensive and intrusive big government. You don't suppose we'd be allowed to... Nah.' But here is what is written in the EU constitution:

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
PART I
TITLE IX UNION MEMBERSHIP
Article I-60 Voluntary withdrawal from the Union

1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article III-325(3). It shall be concluded by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.

3. The Constitution shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.

4. For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in European decisions concerning it.

A qualified majority shall be defined as at least 72 % of the members of the Council, representing the participating Member States, comprising at least 65 % of the population of these States.

5. If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article I-58.'

So, you see, they did it even better than the Soviets in the 1977 constitution of the USSR: secession is not only recognized but also organized! ("Article 72. Each Union Republic shall retain the right freely to secede from the USSR."

Now, of course, the French did the right thing - if for the wrong reasons probably - in voting no. Nonetheless, the above mentioned article was one of the better parts of the constitution. I was very surprised when I found it...

Best regards from the foot of the Mont-Pélerin,

Christoph Kohring
Route de St-Légier 73
CH-1806 St-Légier
Suisse-Schweiz-Svizzera-Switzerland

Pro libertate et contra tyrannos, pro Tell et contra Gessler

Founder, proLibertate.org
Alumnus, 1993 Ludwig von Mises Summer University"