ABSTRACT
While I was writing this text I was reminded of the robust constitution-scepticism of Jens-Peter Bonde, MEP, with whom I became very friendly during the period when I served in the European Parliament as one of the eight MEPs for Scotland from 1999 to 2004. His constant refrain was that the euro-elite, which he considered to be much over-represented in all the European Institutions, even the Parliament, had successfully insulated itself from genuine European public opinion.1 He never tired of telling his opponents that if ever they put their ambitions for further European integration to the test of popular opinion in any Member State, they would lose. One cannot deny that he had a point. Yet there is a problem. The community institutions – Council, Parliament, Commission and Court – have presided over periods of historically unparalleled peace and prosperity among the states and peoples of Europe.
