>while this is the spin that the European establishment
>are putting on the vote it is not very accurate. Almost
>all (if not all) of the various No campaigns said they
>were in favour of enlargement (and indeed as the EU has
>now admitted that voting No would make no difference
>to this process, at least in the short term). The
>No campaigns themselves were sharply divided beyond this
>from 'pro-life' to revolutionary left and anarchist.
But the question is which part of the campaign really mobilized the end vote against Nice? I'm not claiming a clear answer and of course I only have media interpretations, so it's quite possible I have the wrong impression. But it did seem from commentary, both in the media and on the street, that there was a certain parochialism involved, a fear of losing the advantages Ireland has had from the present EU as a tax haven and recipient of regional aid. Maybe the fear of having to pay taxes to fund economic development in Eastern Europe was not a factor in the vote, but that seemed a real concern -- or would you say that was just media bias in reporting?
-- Nathan Newman