The defeat of the EU’s Constitutional Treaty in referendums in France and the Netherlands has, it seems, given rise to a new consensus that further enlargement of the Union should be slowed down, or even stopped. Advocates of this position see EU voters as terrified by the consequences of the May 2004 enlargement of the EU, when eight formerly communist states joined, and angry that they were not consulted about it.
欧盟宪法条约在法国和荷兰公投中所遭遇的挫败看来已经引发新的舆论导向，即应该放缓欧盟进一步扩张的脚步，甚至应该停止。这个观点的鼓吹者认为欧盟选民已经被2004年5月八个前共产主义国家加入欧盟的扩张结果给吓坏了，并对他们未被征求意见而感到愤怒。