Why would it be preferrable to the U.S. version? If it gets voted down and that defeat serves to rally people against neoliberal policies, this is a good thing.
WS:
I do not think that Europe is in danger of becoming another neo-liberal USA. The institutional structure is very different. If the Europeans were going neo liberal they do not need a constitution - they would dismantle their welfare states. But that ain't happenin' - European government social welfare spending is around 27-30 percent of the GDP (sic!) and it has been at that level for some time. In the is it is nearly half that - paltry 16 or so percent of the GDP.
So do you really thing that signing a constitution that guarantees free market - which by itself is a good thing, I think people should be able to buy and sell goods as they please - would change the institutional edifice of the welfare state and reduce EU to the US level? Preposterous.!
I do think, however, that strong and united EU is a grave thereat to the Evil Empire in several ways: 1. EU has the regulatory power that the US industry has to obey (before that they could circumvent individual country regulations) - and this is already happening in the chemical industry
2. The EU regulation will have a spill over effect that will negate the servility of the US government "regulators" to business interests - if EU bans say a drug and that info is easily available via internet, the industry lackeys at FDA can not do much to stop that information
3. The Euro is a competitor to the USD as the international currency - as more and more investment and international trade is Euro denominated, the weaker the position of the greenback, and without a strong and stable dollar, who needs the United States?
4. EU has already broken the US monopoly on commercial space exploration
5. EU is already on a par if not ahead of the US in technology and research.
So a strung and united EU is good for the world and world peace because it counterbalances the Evil Empire, and will do so even more in the future. So who besides some looney lefties gives a fuck about some vague verbiage in the constitution?
Wojtek