France’s verdict tells us that Europe has been oversold

Commentary feature. The writer, a member of the European Commission between 1999 and 2004, is author of The Limits of Europe (Lannoo) and his Brussels diary Grensverkenningen (Prometheus). He starts his article: 'Now that the constitutional treaty has been scuttled it is time to take another look at the European Union and consider what it is, what it can and cannot do and where it should be going'.