But it will also raise suspicions and fears, particularly from Britain, Denmark and Sweden. The British joined the Community because they could not afford to turn their back on a successful European enterprise, but they did so to slow the process, not to support it. They will try to boycott any attempt to turn the Union into something remotely resembling a federation. There are other, less explicit, obstacles, the main one being that a European constitution as suggested by Fischer would strike a final blow at the European nation state, and at national political classes. Whatever they say, European governments still consider this possibility a threat.
European democracy retains a national dimension.
If they want to be re-elected, politicians cannot ignore national wishes and demands, particularly at a time when globalization and new technologies require drastic modernization and raise considerable fears. Many European governments must rely on the support of political forces which are socially conservative and view modernization as a threat to their constituencies. In France, Italy and Sweden, the ruling Social Democrats had to form alliances with communists. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi scored a remarkable success at the recent regional elections because he had once again allied himself with Umberto Bossi's Northern League. This in itself is not a bad thing.