The Euro-Elite's Fear of the Ballot Box
Bloomberg reports that European governments are pushing to expedite the selection of Christine Lagarde's successor at the European Central Bank. The alleged impetus? A profound anxiety that Marine Le Pen might secure the French presidency in 2027, granting her an inconvenient say in the appointment. This, apparently, is a problem high on the priority list for those who champion democratic values,
unless, of course, those values produce the 'wrong' result. Curiously, this isn't the first time the European project has sidestepped electoral outcomes it dislikes. Recall 2005, when both France and the Netherlands decisively rejected the proposed European Constitution in referendums, only for it to be repackaged as the Treaty of Lisbon and ratified by parliaments four years later, effectively
bypassing popular will. The 'treaty' was, by design, nearly identical, with only 12 provisions changed out of 448 articles, as noted by the former editor of The Economist, Gideon Rachman. One might observe a pattern: when faced with an inconvenient popular vote, whether it's on a constitution or the potential influence of a 'far-right' leader, the bureaucratic machine reliably finds a way to
ensure the predetermined outcome. The French 2022 presidential election, where Emmanuel Macron warned that Le Pen's victory would be 'catastrophic' for Europe, serves as a recent echo, much like the 2016 Brexit referendum that saw the UK establishment scramble and ultimately fail to reverse its outcome. The 'rule of law' is championed until it doesn't serve the established order, then suddenly,