The EU Constitution Draft was found on an PdF file...I copied the text to a word document...there's lots of spaces between the various texts etc. So I'll work on it in the weekend. It's almost a hundred pages...christ..
Meciar: SR Should Support France and Germany on EU Constitution.
Bratislava, September 14 (TASR-SLOVAKIA) - Slovakia should not come up with any new proposals to the European Union draft constitution at the inter-governmental conference due to start October 4 in Rome.
So said three-time former Slovak premier, leader of opposition HZDS party Vladimir Meciar on public television STV on Sunday, adding that Slovakia's political representatives should rather adopt the French and German proposals and seek for allies to support them.
Speaking on the weekly STV discussion programme 'O pat minut dvanast' (Five Minutes to 12), Meciar said that only such a document had a chance to make it through negotiations.
Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Kukan, also on the programme, did not agree with Meciar, saying that by admitting France's and Germany's proposal, Slovakia would give up its demands. These demands attempt to see Slovakia not merely "playing second fiddle" within EU structures but rather actively participate in decision-making processes, according to Kukan.
He noted that Slovakia wanted to have its full-fledged European commissioner. He also said he wanted to see that the relation of (national) foreign ministers towards the European Commission and the position of the European Parliament be cleared up.
According to the Slovak Parliament's Foreign Committee chairman Jan Figel, the current draft European constitution interferes with a country's sovereignty more than would be necessary for the Union to function well.
He also asked why the mechanism (of the EU) could not be adjusted in a way that would give more room for the principle of solidarity. In his opinion, if the system will be only about interests, stronger countries will dictate their will to the smaller countries.
"If it is about values, there will be more space for solidarity – either financial or political," Figel said.
Kukan noted that Slovakia's position for the inter-governmental conference was due to be discussed by the government on Tuesday, and by the national convention (on the future of Europe) on Thursday.
The material should then be forwarded also to the Parliament, but Kukan warned that MPs not to put any strict mandate on the delegation which would go to Rome. Rejecting their requests could block passing the constitutional agreement, he warned.
Warsaw and Berlin are still at odds concerning the key issue of the future constitution of the European Union-the distribution of votes.
The heads of both governments met Sept. 22 in Gelsenkirchen at the 6th Polish-German inter-governmental consultations. Prime Minister Leszek Miller and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder did not reach any compromise in their positions concerning the eventual distribution of votes in the EU, which will be entered in the future Constitution Treaty. "When it comes to the voting system, we are still not as close to agreement with each other as is necessary," Schröder said. "I would like to clearly state that Germany has nearly no room to maneuver here, but we need to keep talking."
The current draft of the Constitution Treaty compiled by the European Convention proposes changes in the principles adopted at the summit in Nice in 2000. The changes are disadvantageous to Poland. The Nice system gives Poland 27 votes, a power similar to that of, for example, Germany, which has 29 votes. In the new voting system proposed in the draft, decisions would be made by a simple majority of the number of countries, but the majority would have to represent no less than 60 percent of the EU's population. With this method, Poland's voice would become weaker by a half.
Germany advocates the new system of making decisions and adopting the draft of the Constitution Treaty without amendments. Schröder pointed to the fact that back in Nice, Germany's opinion had been that the principle of double majority made sense and was very democratic. Miller said further negotiations were necessary and the best time for them would be the inter-governmental conference of EU member and candidate countries, which will begin Oct. 4 in Rome. "We will keep talking, trying to find a way to bring our positions closer together," Miller said.
Schröder said that both parties believed that everything had to be done to make the inter-governmental conference conclude in December. The German chancellor also said he hoped that the dispute concerning the system of making decisions in the EU would not make the conference a failure.
Another subject of the talks between the prime minister, chancellor and ministers was the Center for the Expelled. The heads of both governments agreed that the center should not be established in the form proposed by the Union of the Expelled, presided by Erika Steinbach.
President Klaus criticises European draft constitution.
Radio Prague
Czech President Vaclav Klaus has criticised the European constitution, as put forward by the EU Convention on the Future of Europe, saying it supported the rise of a superstate, in which the Czech Republic would have little influence. The draft constitution was designed to allow the EU function more effectively after it expands from 15 to 25 member states next May but Mr Klaus warned it would rather deepen the gap between people and decision-makers. Its approval, he added, would be a big step towards the creation of a federal or even supra-national state. The Czech President is not the only one to criticise the draft. Smaller current and future EU member states have all expressed concern that the European constitution, in its current form, only benefited the bigger states.
Cyril Svoboda: Proposed changes are an attempt to score top marks.
BBC News Online publishes an article by Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, where he explains Prague's view of the EU draft constitution ahead of a governmental conference, which begins in Rome on Saturday.
In June, as the Czech people voted in favour of membership of the European Union, the EU itself was at a crossroads. The completion by the convention on the future of Europe of the last articles of a proposed constitution was one of the most significant moments in EU history. The intergovernmental conference is now about to begin, which will rework the proposed constitution into its final form so that representatives of the individual states can sign it and put it to the test of ratification.
At this point it is worth looking back and recapping on developments so far. The proposed text hammered out by the convention is the result of many months' activity by the plenum and individual working groups engaged in the detailed complexities of specific areas. Representatives of the Czech Republic played a significant part in this work. At the same time, and especially in the later stages, individual European governments took part in this debate, presenting their viewpoints and priorities.
Consensus.
The Czech Government did so in March, while simultaneously the Czech Senate also approved its own position on the constitution, which was similar to the government's. The draft constitution which has flowed from the pen of the convention is a very good one. It encompasses a whole range of points that the Czech Republic has advocated, on institutions and their competences. Above all, however, it is proof that the EU is now more than a merely utilitarian economic union.
Most important is the fact that representatives of countries with different priorities, traditions and international political outlooks were able to reach consensus despite the scale of the task. The fact that the Czech Government is proposing partial changes to the draft constitution - both in the preamble and in individual matters related to institutions - does not mean that we are not conscious of the progress that has been made.
Improvements.
The effort of making some improvements to the resulting text could be compared to that of a student who does optional subjects in order to improve his report card to show top marks. The position that the Czech Government will defend at the intergovernmental conference has already been laid out in outline and will be made more specific, namely:
We request that the states retain equal voting rights in the commission, and that the presidency of the European Council continues to rotate - even if a new post of council president is created We request that the threshold for qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers be raised to 60% of all states and citizens of the EU We do not agree with the idea that changes could be made to the constitution - including transition from unanimous to qualified majority voting in certain areas - without the agreement of national parliaments In the preamble to the constitution, our country favours mentioning specific values which have created a particular civilised space for the European Union - the traditions of Greek philosophy, Christian and Jewish religion and the traditions of the Enlightenment, for example, undoubtedly belong among these values
It is worth, however, appreciating at this point that the European constitution is not primarily about details. The principle argument for its acceptance is the reality that by doing so we are declaring that the EU is something greater than a merely utilitarian economic community. That is why our country too welcomes the creation of a constitution as another step on the journey towards greater European integration.
Bulgaria’s Saxe-Coburg Attends EU Draft Constitutional Treaty Convention.
ROME, Italy -- Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg addressed the meeting of heads of state or government of the 15 EU members, 10 ascending states and three candidate countries in Rome on Saturday (4 October). He urged participants not to offset the balance achieved so far and re-open negotiations on key provisions agreed upon in the Draft Constitution Treaty. Saxe-Coburg also expressed satisfaction with his country's participation in an observer capacity, and said he was confident of full membership by 2007. (BTA, Mediapool, bTV - 04/10/03)
Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has said that his country might hold a referendum on the new European Union constitution if changes it has proposed are not included in the final version. But in remarks broadcast on Polish radio, Mr Miller said there was no need to take a decision until deliberations on the constitution, which began at the intergovernmental conference in Rome on Saturday, had finished.
Correspondents say Poland and Spain have emerged as the draft's strongest critics because it could deprive them of voting power stipulated in the 2000 Nice Treaty on EU enlargement. Mr Miller's statement came as Germany issued a warning to EU member states not to let negotiations drag on until after leaders start talks next year on the 2007-13 budget period. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart that such a delay "would not be wise".
Disagreement.
His words follow remarks by French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder explicitly linking the constitution with the future financing of the EU. The remarks, made this weekend, are being widely seen as a veiled threat to critics of the constitution that they could lose out on EU grants if they continue to oppose key parts of the draft. But the European Commission appeared to disagree with the French and German position. Spokesman Reijjo Kemppinen said discussion of the constitution should not be linked to "financial perspectives".
Poland and Spain have said that they are prepared to fight to preserve the voting system agreed at Nice, which gives them almost as many votes each as Germany despite having much smaller populations. "It may be necessary to ask the Poles about their opinion if it turns out that there is a big difference between what we said in our referendum campaign, encouraging the Poles to vote Yes, and the outcome of the intergovernmental conference," Mr Miller said. Some politicians say that Poles may vote No to the constitution in view of strong reservations held by both government and opposition with regard to the draft.
Parliament unlikely to back EU constitution; national ballot looms.
By Kevin Livingston
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
(October 9, 2003)
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla managed to avoid the squabbling that marked the European Union constitution conference in Rome Oct. 4-5. But if his passive position was designed to please his Italian hosts, who hoped to set the stage for finalizing the constitution by Christmas, it did not sit well with members of the opposition back home.
Unlike Poland, which threatened to veto the constitution outright because of a threat to its voting power, the Czech delegation said it largely agrees with the draft and has concerns about only a few concrete points.
"We've entered the EU to strengthen the position of the Czech Republic and to increase the quality of life of the people," Spidla told reporters. "We will continually pursue them in the work of the intergovernmental conference."
Spidla and company went to Italy with a few concerns about the constitution, including the need for equal representation in the European Commission and the survival of the rotating presidency. Critics led by the Civic Democrats (ODS) want the document overhauled, saying it does not do enough to protect the country's sovereignty.
The ODS and the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) warned the government against being pressured to accept a deadline imposed by larger EU states. They contend the constitution as it now stands will freeze smaller countries into second-class status, and say there is no need to rush a decision.
"Either there will be an agreement [on the constitution] or not," said Jan Zahradil, the ODS shadow foreign minister. "If not, the EU will keep existing on its current treaties."
All EU members must ratify the constitution for it to take effect.
Debate on the document was set to begin in Parliament Oct. 7. Political analyst Bohumil Dolezal said it will be almost impossible for the government, which holds a 101-99 edge in the Chamber of Deputies, to garner the 120 votes needed for approval, setting the stage for a likely national ballot on the constitution next year -- as the ODS has been seeking all along.
"That is why Spidla is beginning to consider the referendum -- if only for prestige reasons, the opposition will kill the [parliamentary] vote," Dolezal said.
Danuta Hübner, minister for European affairs, talks to Ma³gorzata Kaczorowska.
What is the Polish position prepared for the intergovernmental conference in Rome?
The Polish position has been adopted by the government, and discussion in the parliament has proved that most of the political parties support it. It includes four issues which we consider priority issues for our country.
The first is aiming at preservation of the majority voting principle that was introduced by the Nice Treaty. The draft of the Constitution Treaty provides that the principle should be preserved only through November 2009. Poland wants the principle to be introduced as a permanent one.
The second area in which Poland expects institutional improvements to be pursued is the preservation of equality among all European commissioners and of the "one commissioner-one country" principle. According to Poland, there is no need to introduce a diversification of commissioners into two types.
Thirdly, in the area of defense policy Poland opposes the creation of a club with restricted access for the countries not complying with very sophisticated technological criteria. Poland wants the defense policy to be based on ordinary strengthened cooperation and not on structural cooperation.
The fourth priority in the Polish position is striving to supplement the preamble of the European Union's Constitution with a reference to Christian traditions in Europe.
How does discussion on the European Constitution influence relations between the political parties in Poland?
A surprisingly strong agreement exists between various political parties on this issue. There are parties which have become very heavily involved in this discussion and have followed the work of and discussions held in the European Parliament. There are obviously also some groups of politicians which believe that the Constitution Treaty should not be adopted. In my opinion, these parties are not aware of the fact that existing European treaties are in many respects not favorable for the functioning of an extended Europe.
If the new treaty introduces greater chances for effectiveness, that is for an effective functioning of the EU-and Poland is entering the European Union in order to benefit from the well-developing European economy, its coherence and political unity-then support for the changes is essential. The views of some politicians are however very similar to the Polish government's position.
One thing is certain-discussion in Poland and preparations for the approaching intergovernmental conference evoked the greatest interest in the treaty constituting the EU. Before, particularly during the preparations for the referendum, our discussions in Poland focused mainly upon the Accession Treaty and issues concerning Polish membership in the European Union. A discussion on the EU itself has actually emerged for the first time.
What is your opinion of the proposal for the adoption of the Constitution Treaty in a referendum?
According to the government, it is still too early to make such decisions. The legal basis, that is the new Constitution Treaty, whose adoption would be decided upon in a referendum, still does not exist. Thus, the decision will have to be discussed and made only when the treaty is ready.
What are the chances that Poland can convince other countries to its motions during the intergovernmental conference?
We have been working hard on these issues since May, when the proposal of institutional solutions first appeared at the European Convent. Poland has been very actively striving for a change in the proposed regulations included in the draft treaty.
Poland, with the aide of Spain, managed to win the support of eight countries for the first priority issue. As many as 18 member countries have been successfully convinced to support the second priority, which I formulated personally. Talks and meetings concerning the Polish postulates have been held continuously since June. However, the issue concerning preservation of the Nice principle of voting in the Council is only considered a priority issue by Poland and Spain. Although other countries are willing to support those postulates, they are not perceived to be vital issues. Unfortunately, it is hard to predict the situation, course and outcome of negotiations during the conference in Rome.
Straw signs surprise deal with Poles on EU veto (Brits & Poles vs. French & Germans)
Independent UK ^ | 19 November 2003 | Stephen Castle
Posted on 11/18/2003 7:49 PM PST by ellery
Britain surprised its European Union partners yesterday when it struck an alliance with Poland in an apparent effort to stop France and Germany getting their way with the new EU constitution.
The move, announced by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, in an unprecedented briefing to journalists from Poland alone, was made a week after plans were floated for a closer union between Paris and Berlin in foreign affairs, defence and economic matters.
The formation of an informal London-Warsaw axis was disclosed as negotiations reached a climax over the new constitution for the EU, which is due to be finalised next month. Although Poland does not join the EU formally until May, it has veto rights over the constitution which must be approved by the governments of all 15 member states and the 10 nations that join next year.
Under the deal, Britain will back Polish demands for concessions on moves to change the number of votes it will get in EU decision-making. This is seen as the main roadblock in the negotiations on the constitution. It is a subject in which Britain had played no substantial role until yesterday, although Germany and France oppose the Polish position.
In exchange, Poland said it would support British efforts to change a draft text of the constitution on defence, and in its attempt to stop moves to end the national veto in areas of limited taxation policy.
The deal was sealed at a dinner in Brussels on Monday night between Mr Straw and Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, his Polish counterpart.
Some diplomats think the deal could pose a big threat to prospects of a deal on the constitution. With support from each other, Poland or Britain would be more likely to block a deal, or haggle hard as was the case when the EU last negotiated a treaty, in Nice in 2000.
Ironically, the arrangements in that accord are at the heart of the current dispute. At the time Poland won the same voting rights as Spain, giving it almost the same weight as the EU's biggest powers, even though the population of France, Italy and Britain is each about 20 million greater than that of Poland.
Until yesterday Britain had expressed no great preference between the Nice arrangements and new plans, contained in the draft constitution, for votes taken by a qualified majority. These would require the support of 50 per cent of countries and 60 per cent of the EU population.
* Healthcare workers protested in Warsaw yesterday against government reforms prompted by forthcoming membership of the EU. They want more pay and are angry at plans to close indebted hospitals. Leszek Miller, the Prime Minister,is trying to reduce the budget deficit. The workers said funds were being eaten up by a centralised management system.
Slovenia: Rupel to Attend Final Talks on EU Constitution Before the Summit.
Brussels, 08 December (STA) - Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel is fairly optimistic before the final stage of intergovernmental talks on the EU constitutional treaty ahead of the EU summit on Friday. "I believe that we will have a consensus on the Constitution at the end of the week," the minister told STA before leaving for final talks in Brussels on Monday.
Novinite.com
World in Brief: 8 December 2003, Monday
"We would have rather no constitution than a bad constitution; than a mutilated Constitution", said the architect of the draft Constitution on Europe, the Convention President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He added that the job of governments was to improve the Constitution, "but certainly not to water it down", citing moves on criminal law, economic governance and the powers of the European Parliament as evidence of back tracking. Giscard also called on MEPs and MPs to make their protests calmly "with equanimity but with some force". EU leaders will gather in Brussels at the end of the week in an attempt to finalize Constitution talks.
This message has been edited by TsarSamuil from IP address 212.181.9.227 on Dec 11, 2003 11:32 AM
Novinite.com
World in Brief: 11 December 2003, Thursday
Poland may veto the draft EU constitution if the country's voting rights, gained three years ago, are downgraded, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said ahead of his meeting with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Thursday. The two top statesmen are set to discuss the draft, as a special EU summit should be held in Brussels over the weekend. "We are right to fight for good equilibrium in the European Union," Kwasniewski told BBC.
EU constitution 'in the long grass' for at least a year.
Daily Telegraph ^ | December 15, 2003 | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels and George Jones
Efforts to revive negotiations on a new European constitution are likely to be shelved for at least a year after the collapse of the Brussels summit at the weekend led to bitter recriminations yesterday.
Bertie Ahern, the Irish premier, who takes over the European Union's rotating presidency in two weeks' time, called for a long cooling-off period.
"There's not enough political will to find an agreement," he said.
Mr Ahern brushed aside demands for a fresh set of treaty talks to break the deadlock over voting power. He offered no more than a stock-taking session at the next summit in March.
He said EU leaders had been trying to do too much, too fast. "It requires time to think out the issues more fully. This is a huge project, a fundamental change for the whole of Europe," he added.
While European Parliament leaders gave warning of a crisis of public confidence in the EU, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, tried to play down the significance of the impasse.
"Life is going to go on despite these difficulties," he told BBC television. In May, 10 more countries will join the EU.
Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, blamed a "European elite" for the fiasco, accusing EU insiders of trying to ram through profound changes without popular consent, chiefly for reasons of "personal prestige".
He said: "The attempt to impose a European constitution was a radical step on the way to creating a European super-state. Anyone who did not know that, knew nothing. More and more people are becoming conscious of this danger."
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, who chaired the summit, was criticised for failing to take the talks seriously.
At the start, he said the discussions had to be over by Sunday morning so that he could watch his team, AC Milan, play Boca Juniors. Privately, EU diplomats said his tempestuous style and "breath-taking" ignorance of what was under discussion doomed the summit to failure.
Mr Berlusconi defended his leadership, saying: "I've trained armies of salesmen, sportsmen and politicians whom I've led to victory."
French national television accused the United States of orchestrating the impasse in order to head off the emergence of a rival "superpower Europe".
The attempt to draw up a constitution to streamline decision-making in an enlarged EU foundered over population-based voting system that would have reduced the influence of Poland and Spain and given Germany, Europe's most populous state, unique power to block EU decisions.
Poland's stand - before it is officially a member of the EU - infuriated President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. But the blame was cast wider. Tony Blair, for once not at the centre of an EU argument and acting as peacemaker, was accused by M Chirac of not backing the Franco-German position powerfully enough.
France and Germany seized on the summit failure to reaffirm their determination to push ahead with an inner core of states co-operating more closely on economics, defence and crime-fighting.
The Franco-German plans for a two-speed Europe with a "pioneer group" built around the six founding states ran into difficulty when Italy said it was not "appropriate to form groups of countries".
Privately, EU diplomats derided the plan as meaningless, arguing that it would be impossible to go ahead without including all 12 states whose economies are locked together in the euro. Britain, while not a member of the single currency, is playing the central role with France and Germany in the EU's joint defence plans.
But the view in Brussels was that the efforts to draw up the EU's first constitution were now "going into the very long grass".
With national elections due to be held in Spain and across the EU for the European Parliament next year, some leaders believe that full-scale negotiations on a constitution might not resume until 2005.
After Ireland's six-month EU presidency, Holland's increasingly Eurosceptic coalition will take over in the second half of the year. The constitution could become entangled with talks over EU financing and Turkish accession.
Since few EU states have much enthusiasm for a project that was essentially foisted on them by Brussels insiders, a game of "pass the parcel" can be expected until the ultra-federalist Luxembourg presidency in early 2005.
Kirsty Hughes, an expert on the constitution at the Centre for European Policy Studies, said it was in danger on unravelling altogether. "We're in very serious crisis, perhaps the worst ever faced by the EU," she said.
Slovak Politicians Play down Collapse of EU Constitution Talks.
Bratislava, December 14 (TASR-SLOVAKIA) - Slovak politicians are playing down the breakdown of talks on the European Union's proposed constitution, after leaders of EU members and future members failed to find agreement at an intergovernmental conference in Brussels on Saturday.
Economy Minister and ANO party chairman Pavol Rusko said the disagreement "should not be dramatised". He sees scope for a deal within one or two years and believes the postponement is appropriate given the complexity of the project.
Jan Figel, a Christian Democrat KDH MP who was Slovakia's chief negotiator in the EU accession process, said he was "disappointed" with the unsuccessful outcome.
"It is now the responsibility of all, and especially Ireland as the next holder of the EU presidency, to find agreement," Figel told SLOVAKIA.
But he noted that Saturday's result will have little effect on the accession process, which will be carried out according to the provisions agreed in Nice summit.
Slovakia is one of ten countries due to join the EU on May 1, 2004.
Opposition HZDS leader Vladimir Meciar described the failure of the negotiations as "a temporary pause".
"More than 90 percent of the constitition is agreed... The EU integration process will not stop," added the former premier.
Smer opposition party leader Robert Fico viewed the breakdown as "a disagreement between the big players".
According to him, Slovakia will never have a voice in such matters. "We should not be naive and think that after the arrival of 14 Slovak MPs to the European Parliament and of a Slovak European commissioner... Slovakia will be able to do something there" he added.
A deal on the constitution foundered largely upon disagreement over the weight of voting in the enlarged EU.
Miller defends stance in EU summit despite recriminations from EU leaders.
From the Poland A.M.
According to Prime Minister Leszek Miller, Poland's stand during the summit in Brussels was much more constructive than it first appeared.
"The opponents of the Nice Treaty criticized the document's way of counting votes. We said, Let us take all the positive things from the Constitutional Treaty (simplification of treaties, common foreign policy, more power for the European Parliament) and one thing from the Nice Treaty, that is the division of votes. They said "No", so in return they will have only the original Nice Treaty," Miller said in a debate held on the Gazeta Wyborcza website yesterday. He reminded his audience that after the summit, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhoftstadt said that Poland and Spain, "Had shot themselves in the foot". "If somebody did this it is certainly not us," argued Miller. He also revealed that British Prime Minister Tony Blair assured him that, "If any of the proposal separated Poland and Great Britain, he will not support it". (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1; www.onet.pl) A.Z.
Schuster: Slovakia Should Co-ordinate EU Treaty Position with Poland.
Bratislava, January 8 (TASR-SLOVAKIA) - Slovak President Rudolf Schuster was critical on Thursday of Slovakia not having harmonised its position on the European Constitution with Poland, which vowed at the Brussels summit in December to stick with the EU summit conclusions from Nice 2001.
Speaking at new year's meeting with government representatives President Schuster said he was convinced that Slovakia should defend Poland, which is the strongest partner among Visegrad Four countries.
"We know very well that there will yet be various games played on Poland after joining EU. V4 is strong when Poland is with us," claims Schuster.
The president is nonetheless pleased that the government and parliament co-ordinate its foreign policy actions with his office. Schuster continues to press for the visa-free regime with Ukraine. "We will certainly lose out on tourists and entrepreneurs from Ukraine passing through Hungary and Poland to the West," said Schuster adding he had already reached preliminary agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart in this respect.
Sticking with foreign matters, Schuster also commended the fact that the issues surrounding Hungary's compatriot legislation, long a sore point in Budapest-Bratislava relations, were solved last year.
Circumspect E.U. Turns To Dutch on Constitution - Referendum Defeat Could Deal Plan a Fatal Setback.
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 31, 2005; A01
PARIS, May 30 -- European leaders on Monday held out hope that they could move forward with their decades-long drive to unify the continent under a single economic and political banner, but braced for a potentially fatal setback as Dutch voters threatened to join France in rejecting a proposed European constitution.
After initially vowing to press ahead despite the French defeat on Sunday, leaders at the European Union headquarters in Brussels said they would wait for the results of a popular referendum Wednesday in the Netherlands, where opinion polls show the constitution is in trouble. Officials said they would decide what to do next during a previously scheduled summit in the Belgian capital on June 16-17.
The French vote shook the government in Paris, where President Jacques Chirac was closeted in the Elysee Palace to consult with advisers on a planned cabinet shake-up. His staff issued a statement announcing that he would address the nation on television Tuesday night to reveal "decisions regarding the government."
In the aftermath of the 55 percent vote against the constitution, the palace declined to respond to French news reports that Chirac had decided to fire Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, whose aides cleared out their offices Monday in anticipation of such a move.
Negotiators settled last year on the language for the constitution, which is intended to create a uniform legal framework that would give broad power to the European central government on issues of foreign and domestic concern. Since then, countries have been deciding one by one whether to ratify the document.
As opinion polls indicted rejection of the referendum in France in the days leading up to the vote, some European leaders held out hope that the French could be pressured into trying again if they ended up as the lone holdouts. But with surveys showing that the Netherlands was also poised to vote no Wednesday, politicians supporting the constitution changed their tone and began talking about the necessity of respecting the wishes of the people.
In Brussels, leaders tried to soldier on but had trouble mustering much enthusiasm. "We cannot say the treaty is dead," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, even as he acknowledged that the defeat in France was a "serious problem" and offered no prescription for fixing it.
E.U. leaders said they had no alternative strategy drawn up if the constitution were not approved. Each of the union's 25 member nations must approve the constitution before it can take effect.
While Chirac stayed out of the spotlight, opponents of the constitution said drafters needed to rewrite it to win French support. "I'm European, but I want a strong, unified Europe," Laurent Fabius, a Socialist leader who broke with his party to fight the document, said on French television. "The constitution didn't do that."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for "a period of reflection" after the French vote. He said the debate had failed to take into account people's anxieties over how an expanded and more powerful European central government would affect job security, immigration and questions of national identity. He said the constitution was a "perfectly sensible set of rules to govern Europe" but added that there was "a bigger debate now in Europe."
Even countries that have ratified the measure -- nine so far -- harbored doubts that the French no vote could be overcome. "This is regrettable and will cause great challenges for Europe," said Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany, which approved the constitution in a parliamentary vote last week.
Chirac, meanwhile, ignored calls from the opposition to quit, but political analysts said his popularity was so low that it was unlikely he would revive a push to pass the constitution before his term ends in 2007.
"If there's a Dutch no, there will not be another referendum in France," said Dominique Moisi, deputy director of the French Institute of International Relations. "The society has clearly voted no. If the president asks for another referendum, he'll be the most unpopular messenger for Europe imaginable."
The French rejection took on the air of a rebellion. For hours after the polls closed, opponents rejoiced and danced in Bastille Square, the site where the French Revolution began in 1789. Many voters said they were eager to snub members of the country's political, business and media elites, which were largely in favor of the measure.
"They made Europe happen too fast," said Sebastien Dreuillet, a 22-year-old college student in Paris who said he had voted no. "I found the constitution unreadable. The text was too long. Most of the elites didn't read it and just followed along."
Even supporters of the constitution blamed Chirac for not doing a better job of articulating how France would stand to benefit from a stronger E.U. In particular, they grimaced at the memory of Chirac's appearance on television with a group of young voters during the campaign, when he admitted he didn't understand their anxieties about how France would fare economically and politically under a stronger European confederation.
"Chirac pushed a lot of people to vote no," said Caroline de Valroger, a Paris resident who works in the tourist industry and voted yes. "He thinks only of his career," said her husband, Phillippe de Valroger, a businessman.
Some voters accused E.U. leaders of crafting the constitutional process to make it appear democratic, when in fact only a few people outside France have been afforded the opportunity to have a direct say. Of the nine nations that have ratified the constitution, only Spain held a referendum on the question. Elsewhere the decision was left to lawmakers.
"This is a kick in the pants for the French and for the political class in Europe, one that's overdue and badly needed," said Ronald D. Asmus, executive director of the German Marshall Fund's Transatlantic Center in Brussels. "This whole project hasn't been bringing people on board, and lots of problems were being papered over. At some point, people realized there was too much papering over."
Special correspondents Erika Lorentzsen in Paris and Shannon Smiley in Berlin contributed to this report.
