National interests

It was no doubt an inauspicious day for the integrationists. Yet the most significant aspect of the member states' inability to finalize the Constitution is not the inability itself, but what it says about the European project generally. To be sure, there were so many better reasons to reject this document, from its obscene length to its impenetrable language to its woeful democratic credentials. Even putting stylistic
criticism aside, there was plenty of substance for the parties to debate. The document contains grand designs for EU institutions, ambitious plans for further policy harmonization, and expansive descriptions of citizens' rights.
national interests – národní zájmy doubt – pochybnost inauspicious – nepříznivý, neblahý yet – nicméně significant – důležitý inability – neschopnost to finalize – dokončit itself – jako taková generally – všeobecně to reject – zamítnout from its…to its… – (čím) počínaje …(tím) konče obscene – neslušný length - délka impenetrable – neproniknutelný woeful – žalostný credential – doporučení, pověření put sth aside – dát co stranou plenty of – mnoho grand – velkolepý, důležitý expensive – drahý, nákladný, nákladně vyvedený

Yet these majestic visions were not what occupied the member states. In fact, what spoiled the summit had nothing at all to do with European institutions or European interests. On the contrary, the member states' quarrel over the proposed vote allocation - and thus their failure to approve the entire constitutional text - had only to do with cold calculations of national interest and the relative influence of sovereign member states.
majestic – majestátní to occupy – zaměstnávat (čím), zabývat se in fact – ve skutečnosti to spoil – zkazit nothing to do with – nemít nic společného s on the contrary – naopak to quarrel – hádat se thus – tak, takto entire – celý influence – vliv

The accidental, but highly fortuitous, conclusion that one should draw from all of this is that the EU is just not ready for a Constitution, not in the real sense of the term. Like the year's other disagreements over the war in Iraq, the collapse of Union fiscal policy rules, and the future of European defence, this dispute shows that Europeans still think of themselves primarily, and in many cases exclusively, as members of nation-states.
accidental – náhodný fortuitous – šťastný, nahodilý conclusion – závěr to draw – vybrat in the real sense of the term – v pravém slova smyslu disagreement over – neshoda kvůli čemu rule – pravidlo defence – obrana primarily – primárně exclusively – jedině, pouze

Připravuje Markéta Frýbová