And here we are.

After so much debate in Brussels and elsewhere, and three years after the NO vote of the French to the EU Constitution, the Irish seem to have voted NO as well to the Lisbon Treaty. And this leaves Europe in a standstill (once again). It’s the problem with having to wait for everyone to agree on something. We’re either always stuck waiting for someone, or we get a two-step Europe, with some countries moving forward and others moving more slowly.

Clearly now Europe needs to do something. The options? Either stop to re-think the whole thing. Starting from decision making, the role of its institutions and the role of democracy in such decisions (let us not forget that Ireland has about 3 million voters, and they “decided” on behalf of 400 million of Europeans). The other option is to move fast and swiftly. Forget about those that do not want to be a part of the EU (like the UK) and go ahead with those that want to go ahead.

In my opinion this is a blow for Europe, but one that might make us all, European citizens, think about Europe a bit more than we do in our everyday lives.