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outubro 29, 2004

EU referendum in early 2006, says Straw

Fonte: The Times

EU referendum in early 2006, says Straw
By Jenny Booth, Times Online



A referendum on whether to accept the new EU Constitution will probably be held in Britain in early 2006, Jack Straw confirmed today.



The Foreign Secretary told the BBC that it would not be possible to hold the vote any earlier because next year the Government would be too busy holding the EU presidency.

Mr Straw spoke in Rome as all 25 EU heads of state converged on the Italian capital for the ceremony of signing the new constitution.

The document is designed to make the recently-enlarged Europe of 25 states governable, by watered down the right of single states to use their veto to delay decision-making.

But the constitution has provoked anger and alarm among Conservatives who fear that Britain is giving away its sovereignty.

They have pressed for an early referendum, predicting that the British public will turn the new constitution down. Labour believes that a longer wait will allow Britons to get used to the new arrangements and will give time for a campaign to allay fears.

Mr Straw said on the Radio 4 Today programme: "No precise date has been accepted and it depends partly on the parliamentary process. It is likely to be in early 2006 for the simple reason that in the autumn of 2005 we have the presidency of the European Union and it would be practically almost impossible to combine both running the presidency with a referendum.”

The constitutional treaty was being signed this morning in the spectacular Renaissance surroundings of the Campidoglio, Rome's town hall designed by Michelangelo.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, has ensured that the event will pass off with as much showmanship as the country can muster. He has recruited the fashion designer Valentino to design the stewards' uniforms, and the film director Franco Zeffirelli is directing the television coverage. Two lorry loads of flowers have been brought in.

The centre of Rome has been closed for security reasons, and one of the capital's two airports is also shut to the public to allow the flood of dignitaries to arrive and depart.

But while the signing of the constitution is expected to pass off without a hitch, the task of selling it to the nations of Europe is likely to pose a more difficult problem for the heads of state.

Up to 19 countries are planning to hold a referendum on whether to ratify the treatry, with France, Belgium, Denmark, the Irish republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Britain certain to do so.

If just one nation rejects the constitution in its referendum, then the whole document falls and the EU has to go back to the drawing board.

Britain is not the only nation where the people are sceptical - France, too, is experiencing an anti-constitution backlash, where the leading socialist politician Larent Fabius has come out against it.

The Government is keen to have Britain avoid the opprobrium of being the nation which brought the constitution crashing down. Holding its referendum right at the end, after the other nations have held theirs, including Eurosceptic Poland, Denmark and the Czech Republic, lengthens the odds that Britain will be seen as the wrecker of Europe.

EUROPE'S CONSTITUTION



· creates an EU Foreign Minister

· creates a permanent EU president

· enshrines EU law as being supreme over national law

· gives the EU a legal identity so that it can sign treaties on behalf of countries

· sets up an EU common defence policy, compatible with Nato

· gives EU more powers in areas such as immigration, energy and health

· speeds up decision-making in an enlarged EU

· gives countries a legal route to leave the EU for the first time

· condenses all previous EU treaties into one simpler, more easily understood document

· contains a new Charter of Fundamental Rights, which goes considerably further than the European Convention of Human Rights, already enshrined in UK law

Publicado por esta às outubro 29, 2004 02:01 PM