ROME -- A year ago, few people would have bet that the European Union, still reeling from the trauma of the Constitutional Treaty’s rejection in 2005, would be poised to ratify the new Reform Treaty, adopted in Lisbon last December. For some, the fact that the United Kingdom might ratify it even earlier than traditionally “pro-European” countries like Italy merely underscores the Treaty’s lack of new and bold initiatives to accelerate European unification.
ROME – Il y a un an, peu de gens auraient parié que l’Union européenne, toujours sous le choc du rejet du Traité constitutionnel de 2005, serait sur le point de ratifier le nouveau Traité de réforme adopté à Lisbonne en décembre dernier.