THE EU
Below is a copy of an article which has recently appeared on the EUPolitix website:
Brussels questions future of EU referendums
A new EU constitution should not be put to the people, European trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has insisted.
The UK commissioner is close to British leader Tony Blair and his warning reflects fears in Brussels and beyond.
Germany will start the process to revive or redraft an EU constitutional treaty following last year’s referendum rejections in France and the Netherlands.
Mandelson is clear that any new text can not be a hostage to democratic votes - referendums in the UK, Denmark and Ireland were called off amid concerns that more negative results would plunge the EU into deep crisis.
“Anything that crosses the threshold of requiring a referendum will immediately run into difficulties,” he told E!Sharp magazine.
“We have to come to terms with the fact that getting any constitutional treaty past a referendum in our member states will be an uphill struggle.”
The former UK cabinet minister and close adviser to Blair believes that the answer to any EU question is likely to be no from European voters.
“A mixture of national discontents, populist tides and currents, and the fact that in a referendum there are 101 different issues on which the public will vote, will tell you to question whether any referendum is likely to be successful,” he said.
Following 2005 “non” and “nee” votes in France and the Netherlands, all other referendums were put on ice.
New governments are expected in the Hague later this year and in Paris next spring.
Berlin will the present a “roadmap” for a new EU treaty in June 2007, a new text that is likely to keep institutional changes but avoid the constitution label.
But French, Dutch and other voters may demand a say at the polls, while EU referendums are a constitutional requirement in countries such as Ireland.
Mandelson has also joined the debate over the European parliament’s monthly “travelling circus” to Strasbourg.
“I like going to Strasbourg. I like the parliament in Strasbourg. But it is very hard to justify the expense. Such a cost, such rigmarole, is unacceptable to public opinion and we have to recognise that,” he said.
Brussels questions future of EU referendums
A new EU constitution should not be put to the people, European trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has insisted.
The UK commissioner is close to British leader Tony Blair and his warning reflects fears in Brussels and beyond.
Germany will start the process to revive or redraft an EU constitutional treaty following last year’s referendum rejections in France and the Netherlands.
Mandelson is clear that any new text can not be a hostage to democratic votes - referendums in the UK, Denmark and Ireland were called off amid concerns that more negative results would plunge the EU into deep crisis.
“Anything that crosses the threshold of requiring a referendum will immediately run into difficulties,” he told E!Sharp magazine.
“We have to come to terms with the fact that getting any constitutional treaty past a referendum in our member states will be an uphill struggle.”
The former UK cabinet minister and close adviser to Blair believes that the answer to any EU question is likely to be no from European voters.
“A mixture of national discontents, populist tides and currents, and the fact that in a referendum there are 101 different issues on which the public will vote, will tell you to question whether any referendum is likely to be successful,” he said.
Following 2005 “non” and “nee” votes in France and the Netherlands, all other referendums were put on ice.
New governments are expected in the Hague later this year and in Paris next spring.
Berlin will the present a “roadmap” for a new EU treaty in June 2007, a new text that is likely to keep institutional changes but avoid the constitution label.
But French, Dutch and other voters may demand a say at the polls, while EU referendums are a constitutional requirement in countries such as Ireland.
Mandelson has also joined the debate over the European parliament’s monthly “travelling circus” to Strasbourg.
“I like going to Strasbourg. I like the parliament in Strasbourg. But it is very hard to justify the expense. Such a cost, such rigmarole, is unacceptable to public opinion and we have to recognise that,” he said.
posted by erc @ 8:01 pm
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