the Treaty was a device created to pass the constitution while bypassing the need for referendums
> "The electorate rejected version 1, so we redrafted until it was acceptable" sounds like a pretty good policy to me
well yes, that sounds reasonable, except the electorate were not given the option to reject it a second time, because they might actually do that
I am not aware of any such thing, in fact I reject your statement completely.
> the electorate were not given the option to reject it a second time Isn't that a matter for France to address, rather than the EU
Needless to say, this has now been repeated, again, and again:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendums_related_to_the_Eur...
And of course, one might say that the EU treated the election results in Greece, Italy, France and Germany with utter contempt. Greece most of all, of course, but the others aren't far behind.
1. The French didn't hold a referendum on Lisbon
2. The treaty was ratified in 2008
Presumably you are either confusing the referendum on the EU constitution with the Lisbon treaty, or trying to suggest that they are one and the same? They are not of course, the Lisbon treaty was drafted specifically to address the concerns with the EU constitution. "The electorate rejected version 1, so we redrafted until it was acceptable" sounds like a pretty good policy to me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratification_of_the_Treaty_of_...