Posted on 05/27/2005 3:19:12 AM PDT by right said fred
EU president favors re-run of referendums if constitution rejected -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27/5/2005 11:42
If the French and the Dutch say " no" to the European Union (EU) Constitution on Sunday and Wednesday, they should re-run the referendums, Jean-Claude Juncker, EU's current rotating president and Luxembourg prime minister has said. "If at the end of the ratification process, we do not manage to solve the problems, the countries that would have said No, would have to ask themselves the question again," Juncker said in a recent interview with Belgian daily Le Soir. These words came after a statement by French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on Tuesday saying that another referendum is "not a perspective that France could accept". The Luxembourg leader went on to say: "And if, even after the European Council deals with the problem, we do not manage to find the right answer, the treaty will not come into force." Juncker stressed that a French No would be a "disaster" and excluded the possibility of imminent re-negotiations. "The idea circulating in France that there could be an immediate re-negotiation (of the treaty) is absolutely unimaginable," he said. According to Juncker, it would take "10 to 15 years" for another treaty to be established. And a rejection of the Constitution would also lead "external observers" not to know what direction Europe wants to take anymore, which means that the "economy will not get better with a No," he pointed out. This is why the ratification process should go on in other countries, even if France says No, the current EU president stressed. The EU Constitution must be approved by all the 25 EU member states and aims at simplifying decision-making in the European Union following last year's expansion of the bloc to eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. The constitution must be approved either by parliamentary vote or by popular referendum in all the 25 countries before it can come into effect in 2006. So far it has been approved by 10 member countries. But more difficult hurdles remain ahead as the constitution is put to the vote in Britain, the Netherlands and other more Euro-skeptical countries.
"French" democracy..
LMAO everytime i read these articles.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Actually, although that is what this guy is proposing, that probably won't happen.
What will probably happen imo, is that the EU constitution will be broken down and sneaked through each member states legislator in little bite size chuncks over a number of years until the end result is the same. These little changes will of course be deemed so insignificant that they won't require referendums.
I bet you're right and the powers that be in EU member states have already thought of it. Spoonful by spoonful, the medicine goes down.
That makes some sense. If the EU wants to present a new proposal, then a new referendum is appropriate. But I don't know if it is possible for the unelected European elites to agree on a new treaty again, particularly with the addition of the Eastern Europeans and (cue Darth Vader theme) the Turks.
The interesting thing about this is that in France apparantly, the EU constitution is seen as an "Anglo-Saxon plot to export croissants from Tesco and populate the Trois Vallées with ski instructors from Surbiton", while here in the UK it's regarded as a Franco-German led left wing socialists charter.
Funny old world eh?
Sounds like the light-rail in Austin TX (or Minneapolis for that matter). They will just keep voting, and voting until it goes their way.
The thing is, in this case they're all right! This EU Constitution is a disaster on many levels!
The little fellow from Luxembourg can say what he likes, but it will not work that way in France. When the treaty is rejected, the ruling party will not have the political capital to simply propose it again. They will be defeated and in disarray.
The treaty will eventually have to be renegotiated.
Yes, but you're still going to have to take all those Tesco Croissants ;o)
Its just like our school and bus millages here in Michigan. At first you don't suceed, vote, vote again.
It was explained to me by a baker why in the United States it is not possible to get a good croissant.
He went over to America in order to bake croissants for a company that sells them. He said it was surprisingly difficult to make croissants taste right in America. There are many theories, he explains: some say it is the water. Others, that there is not the skill in American bakers. Some say it is the pasteurization of the butter.
But in truth, he explains, it is none of those things.
In truth, the reason is that American flour has about twice the protein in it of flour in France. Protein is of a different consistency and tastes different. Therefore, to make a proper croissant in the USA, you cannot use the French recipe. The combination of elements in the same proportions will not produce the same taste, no matter who does it, because the American flour has double the protein but half of the glucides.
He makes proper croissants which taste correct.
But he does this by using a completely different mixture in his dough, a different proportion of flour and water, cooked for a different time at different temperature, and with different amounts of fat.
His croissants are creditable, which means that empirically he must be right.
Constitution No votes likely to paralyse EU...France and Germany - once the real political engine of the Continent - now have leaders that are as likely to attack Brussels for short term political gains and govern citizens that have lost their faith in the economic direction Europe is taking. On top of this, the two German and French leaders are seen as lame ducks, both deeply unpopular and possibly on the way out.
by Honor Mahony
EU Observer
May 25 2005
The situation in some other large countries is equally poor with Italy's Berlusconi also only struggling to stay in power, while the UK's Tony Blair has indicated he will not serve the full five years of his current term.
Things are also in a bad state at the European Commission. The institution has suffered under the leadership of Jose Manuel Barroso, who is seen as lacking in political judgement and wanting to be "all things to all men", as one diplomat put it... Therefore, a double no on 29 May and 1 June is likely not just to mean the end of the constitution but also a period of political stagnation for the bloc...
On top of this, the Luxembourg EU presidency has also said ratification should continue, but leaders are likely to abandon this idea at their summit in June... re-negotiation of the Constitution is unlikely as well as the document was only agreed after two years of painful give-and-take bartering. A briefing for the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels on the other hand suggests that part of the Constitution, such as the new EU foreign minister, could be introduced anyway as long as all member states agreed... Technically, the EU can survive under the current Nice Treaty - it has done so for the past couple of years.
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Note to Europe:
The EU Constitution will create a single, multiethnic, multicultural nation.
President George W. Bush is deeply unpopular, and will not be reelected in 2004.
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