‘Non’: Small Really is Beautiful
So France has voted ‘Non’ to the EU Constitution.
There are many reasons for this outcome, of course. Dissatisfaction with the Government, fear of reduced French influence in the growing EU and so on…
They are not the first to say ‘No’. Denmark and Ireland took the same decision and others have left the final decision to their leaders. The Netherlands will go to the polls in a couple of days and it will be interesting to see how the French decision impacts them.
But, for those of us who live within the EU (and for the rest of the world too, actually), the impact will be immense.
We may see the development of a ‘core Europe’, which leaves other sceptical nations behind.
From a UK perspective, the Labour Government will be under pressure to abandon its own plans for a Spring 2006 referendum. Many within the Labour ranks will then argue that there is little point in Tony Blair clinging to leadership any longer and that he should now resign and hand over the reins to Gordon Brown.
The next few weeks will be very, very interesting…
But, apart from the politics and the economics, there is one other factor that I have found particularly interesting in this result. Namely, that the vote against the EU Constitution was swung by the Millennials. It was the youth of France who stood against the Baby Boomer Government.
And this, of course, is a movement of idealism that is sweeping through Millennial Europe: the idea that there should be a move away from Macro-entities towards Micro-power. This desire for Micro-power is expressing itself in many different ways; disillusionment with major political parties and an increasing involvement in ‘local’ politics; pressure group activity; radical extremism and so on.
But I believe the desire for Micro-power is also having an impact in the world of business too. Arguably, the British economy is now positively impacted by the enormous growth in Small and Medium Business Enterprises. The incredible story of companies such as DNA, three techno-wizards who put together the remarkable scenes in ‘The Aviator’ (http://www.apple.com/pro/video/dna/) is becoming commonplace throughout Europe.
Of course, the huge increase in influence of Small and Medium Business Enterprises should not surprise us. If we really believe that the Connection Economy is here to stay, how better to create a ‘Connection’ environment than through a Small or Medium sized business?
I would be interested to hear opinions on this. Is the SME revolution unique to the UK and Europe? Are other nations being transformed in the same way? Have I overestimated the SME impact on the UK? Are there stories to illustrate Millennial Micro-power in business that we can all learn from?
Is it the case that a ‘Non’ in France is indicative of a ‘Oui’ across the globe?
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France (and a few other European countries) are playing with fire. Such a pity that a first world country would weigh up short term social gain against economic change in a highly competitive, globalized world. It is interesting to note though, that your Frenchman working for private companies were more inclined to vote “yes” than your average government worker. From reading international news magazines it is evident that, unlike in Britain – you’ll probably know better Steve! – where economic prosperity are to a high extent due to the flexibility of the work force and a constant flow of new labour from all over the world, some other European countries see the new “tides” as a mortal threat to their social and economic platform.
Regarding SME’s; it is noticeable that in South Africa, new tax laws were passed in recent years to specifically encourage small/medium enterprises. At least the government is aware of its importance and the role SME’s can play in growth.