Expansion and the EU

Comments on the French "no" vote, by Dutch political analyst Dick Leurdyk:

Leurdyk says the EU's rate of expansion to the east has been too rapid for the French to accept, especially in view of the fact that a host of other countries are lining up for membership, including Ukraine, Moldova, the western Balkan countries, and Turkey.

"One of the big concerns, which has now come to the fore, has been the fact that so many people really are afraid of the speed of the unification process, the fact we now have all of a sudden 10 new members, [the EU has grown] from 15 to 25, that seems to have been one of the main factors for many people [in France] to say no, and this is certainly also the case with the debate we have here in the Netherlands," Leurdyk says.