No Campain Bulletin 5: 17 June 2005

Constitution on "pause" as EU leaders play for time

EU leaders have agreed to suspend the EU Constitution ratification process while there is a "period of reflection". However, European politicians at this week's summit meeting have given the impression that the "pause" will only last until public opposition to the Constitution dies down.

A communiqué issued by the Luxembourg presidency of the EU on 17 June said that agreement had been reached over stopping the ratification process. However, it also said that rather than scrapping the process, it would extend the deadline for countries to agree the Constitution. The previously agreed date of November 2006 will reportedly be pushed back to "mid-2007" (AP, 17 June). According to the communiqué, "This Treaty is the best one, which means that its renegotiation cannot even be envisaged". This line was also pushed by Peter Mandelson in a speech earlier in the week. He said, "Europe would be mad to scrap a painfully established consensus. If the European Council later this week decides to put ratification on ice, the aim must be that in future, popular support could be mobilised to implement those reforms, perhaps in a different form, but without seeking to bypass the people's will" (13 June).

At the summit, Tony Blair attempted to kick the Constitution into the long grass, saying, "Let's get the politics right, then the Constitution" (Guardian, 17 June). Taking the lead from Britain and the Czech Republic, which both announced postponement of their referendums last week, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Portugal have all now announced that they will suspend theirs. Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson said Sweden will suspend its parliamentary ratification process until France and the Netherlands have voted again. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, "We cannot continue as if nothing has happened" (Independent, 17 June).

However, while there has been pressure for France and the Netherlands to vote again, it does not appear that this will happen in the near future. A French government source said, "It is unthinkable that Chirac would take the risk of a new referendum before the presidential election in 2007 and a new president would not quickly take this risk either" (Reuters, 16 June).

By deciding to delay ratification, rather than scrapping the whole process, EU leaders are hoping that interest in the Constitution will die down, so that they can press ahead with ratification at a later date. Despite the rhetoric about "listening", a dismissive attitude towards voters still dominates EU leaders' thinking. During the summit Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the EU Council, continued to insist the treaty was "perfect" and that there was no need for any renegotiation of its terms. With an amazing disregard for voters he said, "I believe neither the French nor the Dutch really rejected the constitutional treaty."

European politicians plan to cherry-pick Constitution

The EU Commission has begun searching for parts of the Constitution that can be implemented without a formal ratification process. The Telegraph this week reported on an internal document suggesting that the Commission is planning to introduce the citizens' initiative, the partial opening up of Council of Ministers' meetings to the public and the "yellow card" procedure on subsidiarity (16 June).

Meanwhile, Le Figaro reported this week on proposals drawn up by the influential Bertelsmann Foundation think-tank (16 June). The plan consists of picking the "essential, uncontested" parts of the Constitution and submitting them as amendments to the Nice treaty. The sections to "save" include some of the most controversial aspects of the Constitution. These include the EU foreign minister, the EU diplomatic service, the permanent president of the EU, the size of the Commission and the method of electing its president, changes to the voting system, reinforced cooperation, the reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the introduction of exclusive competencies for the EU, and the "solidarity" clause.

On the Today Programme on Thursday, Italian Europe minister Georgio La Malfa argued for parts of the Constitution to be implemented before ratification finishes. He said, "The ratification won't take place by the end of 2006, but we need some of the new rules. We need the new voting rules. so I think we need to salvage most of the treaty" (16 June).

Pro-euro campaigners are claiming that because the Commission is currently only talking about relatively uncontroversial aspects of the Constitution, attempts to 'cherry-pick' in this way could be acceptable. However, it is obvious that while they will start with relatively uncontroversial changes, EU leaders will then move on to introduce changes like the new voting weights and removing the requirement for unanimity in key areas. EU leaders seem to think that the no votes in France and the Netherlands are a problem to get around, rather than the catalyst for a fundamental rethink about where the EU is going.

Text from news release by the no campaign.

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