The unconvincing versus the self-serving. That pretty much describes the two sides limbering up for a political scrap over the European Union's constitutional treaty, two years after it was thrown out in French and Dutch referendums. As Europe's leaders prepare for their June summit discussion on salvaging bits of the treaty, two camps are forming, pitting the worthy countries that have accepted the old text (the ratifiers) against the troublesome ones which insist it must be less ambitious in both appearance and content (the minimalists). Do not expect high-minded debate between the two. The ratifiers' arguments are lofty-sounding but unconvincing. The minimalists' ones amount to naked self-interest. Which side triumphs will tell you much about how the EU ticks.
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