Kap.A said: "Again, a European Union that was purely an economic bloc (...) and a military alliance (...), and one that included Russia would be acceptable to me."

Turkey should be kept out precisely because we'd like the EU to be more than a trading bloc.

"3. [The Union in its current incarnation] seems determined to include Turkey and is allowing in an influx of non-European immigrants"

And "it" knows that most Europeans do not want Turkey inside the EU. So, it means that the EU has become an anti-European, anti-democratic structure. The people in charge of it do not share the ideals still prevalent 30 years ago. In its early days, the EU was something of a European nationalist ideal. Now it has turned into an empty box. The EU constitution project explicitly says it should be open to everybody irrespective of his race, creed, or sexual orientation. I think the EU project should be laid to rest for at least 50 years, until the immigration ideology dies down.

Is this yet another attempt to bypass another referendum or plebiscite on the European Union's constitution, so that it can be adopted by firmly elected politicians without the consultation or consent of their electorates?

Again, a European Union that was purely an economic bloc (i.e. a free trade area) and a military alliance (e.g. NATO or the defunct Warsaw Pact), and one that included Russia would be acceptable to me. The Union in its current incarnation is unacceptable because:

1. It is a supranational authority rather than a co-operative of nation-states, and one that is increasingly overruling national governments and their electorates
2. Its legislature is not accountable to the citizens of Europe's constituent states
3. It seems determined to include Turkey and is allowing in an influx of non-European immigrants
4. It allows for freedom of movement (i.e. residency), which undermines the social cohesion of those nations which are attractive to both foreigners and worse off Europeans (e.g. Romanians)
5. Its ethos is egalitarian and in direct opposition to European nationalism
6. It seeks to create a single nation state from the various nations of Europe, when in fact Europe thrives because its constituent nations compete with another economically and otherwise