It is nevertheless comforting that Europe’s differences on global issues have not had an excessive impact on the EU’s internal dynamics. The war in Iraq did not delay the Union’s “big bang” enlargement, and was not the reason for the failure of referenda in France and the Netherlands on the Constitutional and Lisbon treaties.
但令人倍感安慰的是，欧洲关于世界性事务的分歧并没有对欧盟肌体内的活力产生过度的影响。伊拉克战争并有延缓欧盟“大爆炸”式的扩张，也不是导致欧盟宪法和里斯本条约在法国和荷兰投票失败的原因。