VARIOUS: DOUBLE 'NO' VOTE FROMM FRANCE AND NETHERLANDS PUTS RATIFICATION OF EU CONSTITUTION UNDER SPOTLIGHT

Record ID: 328664

  • Title: VARIOUS: DOUBLE 'NO' VOTE FROMM FRANCE AND NETHERLANDS PUTS RATIFICATION OF EU CONSTITUTION UNDER SPOTLIGHT
  • Date: 4th June 2005
  • Summary: (EU) MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS (JUNE 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV CLOCK TOWER IN MARKET PLACE/ STALLS IN THE SQUARE; DUTCH FLAG FLYING ABOVE FOOD STALL 0.07 2. SLV PEOPLE STANDING AROUND MARKET STALL SELLING HERRING, A TYPICAL DUTCH DISH; WOMEN EATING HERRING AT STALL; SCU TRADITIONAL DUTCH WOODEN CLOGS IN THE SQUARE; SLV CAFE IN A NEAR BY SQUARE (4 SHOTS) 0.25 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) WOMAN IN THE SQUARE SAYING: "I think it's all going too fast. I think they need to think it over again and that maybe we could vote in a year or so because people are not really ready for this." 0.40 4. SLV PEOPLE SITTING IN THE CAFE; GROUP OF WOMEN IN CAFE 0.46 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) MAN IN THE SQUARE SAYING: "They only told us about the negative aspects of the 'No' vote and they did not stress enough the positive aspects of a "Yes" vote. 0.55 6. SLV BOATS ON RIVER; TOURISTS LOOKING OVER RIVER; SLV DUTCH AND EUROPEAN FLAGS FLYING ON THE BOATS (3 SHOTS) 1.05 (EU) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN PALMER, EUROPEAN POLICY CENTRE, SAYING: "Well since Maastricht, ten years now, or more, we've come an awful long way. The European Union has grown to twenty five member states. Secondly we have the beginnings of a real common foreign policy and security and defence policy. We have transferred important decision making on justice, the fight against crime, terrorism, human rights, many important areas to the European Union. The European Parliament has acquired new powers. Of course the Union's development lags behind, is slower than the scale of the problems it has to confront. We have come an awful long way but now we face a crisis." 1.47 (EU) MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS (JUNE 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 8. SLV PEOPLE RIDING BICYCLES ON BRIDGE; SLV YOUNG WOMEN RIDING BICYCLES (3 SHOTS) 2.04 (EU) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN PALMER, SAYING: "The present crisis will not make it easier to solve the economic problems it will make it more difficult. But the crisis is telling us something even more imporatnt than the economy: it is saying the people do not feel ownership of the European Union process. So we have to say to ourselves: in the future how are going to move forward with a constitution with a new treaty because we're growing we're expanding we've got new responsibilities we have to reform our process. How are we going to do that? In ways that involve the people.That is the 64,000 euros question. And I think that whatever happens to this treaty, there should be a new convention convention, elected directly by all the people of Europe." 2.47 (EU) MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS (JUNE 2, 2005) (REUTERS) 10. SLV BANK OF BICYCLES BY RIVER; STATUE OF LAUGHING MAN; SLV PEOPLE IN THE STREET (4 SHOTS) 3.09 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM AND MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS
  • City:
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Reuters ID: LVACDBIYHCXT3I73KHR64V7GXP9D
  • Story Text: Double 'NO' vote from France and Netherlands puts
    ratification of EU constitution under spotlight.

    The European Union's constitution is dead, some
    analysts say, whilst others maintain something good can
    still come out of the ashes but only if the people of
    Europe are given 'ownership' of the constitution.

    Dutch voters screamed "Nee" on Wednesday (June 1) by an
    even more crushing margin than France's resounding "Non" at
    the weekend and now EU leaders are asking themselves some
    serious questions about what went wrong and how to save
    their bacon, their baguettes or their clogs.

    Maastricht, in the Netherlands, was once the symbol of
    a united Europe. It was the fruit of a growing Union full
    of the hope of a strong and united economic future which
    could compete with economic giants across the Atlantic and
    later Asia.

    The treaty was signed in the town in 1992 and paved the
    way to the euro and greater economic and monetary
    cooperation and unification.

    But now, Maastricht suffers from the same malaise as
    the rest of the country and possibly the rest of the
    western European member states. Maastricht citizens are
    uncertain about Europe and its future. It has lost its way,
    they say, or at least lost touch with the people and their
    needs.

    Whereas in 1992 the Dutch felt they could be stronger
    within Europe, they now feel weakened by it and fear they
    could lose their identity if they go on with today's
    Europe. They fear they could lose their jobs to eastern
    European countries' lower labour costs. They fear they will
    lose control of their currency. They fear that the speed of
    the Union's economic development will not suit Dutch
    aspirations.

    One woman in Maastricht said she did not not think it
    was not possible to have the "same rules for everybody".

    Yet it was clear she was not ready to ditch Europe
    altogether.

    "I think it's all going too fast. I think they need to
    think it over again and that maybe we could vote in a year
    or so because people are not really ready for this," she
    said.

    This presents a serious dilemna for politicians who
    have tried to sell the 'Yes' vote to their supporters with
    the view to a fast track economic recovery. But how do they
    prove their interest in holding on to those aspects of
    Europe which work whilst ditching those that don't.

    Another man in Maastricht, said people should have
    voted 'Yes' because "the show must go on". But he
    criticised Holland's political parties for badly marketing
    the benefits of a European constitution
    "They only told us about the negative aspects of the
    'No' vote and they did not stress enough the positive
    aspects of a "Yes" vote," he said.

    In Brussels, EU leaders are now groping for a way
    forward and looking to salvage what can be saved while
    trying to avoid blame for the disaster.

    John Palmer of the European Policy Centre says Europe
    has moved at two different speeds and that the people have
    not been given the chance to keep up with the changes.

    He admits that the French and Dutch referenda have
    plunged Europe into a crisis. But not only does he believe
    the constitution can be retrieved. He says Europe's
    politicians and commissioners needed a slap in the face to
    put things right.

    "Well since Maastricht, 10 years now, or more, we've
    come an awful long way. The European Union has grown to 25
    member states. Secondly we have the beginnings of a real
    common foreign policy and security and defence policy. We
    have transferred important decision making on justice, the
    fight against crime, terrorism, human rights, many
    important areas to the European Union. The European
    Parliament has acquired new powers. Of course the union's
    development lags behind, is slower than the scale of the
    problems it has to confront. We have come an awful long way
    but now we face a crisis," Palmer said.

    Put simply, the options being discussed in Brussels and
    national capitals look a bit like the buttons on a video
    player:
    PLAY - continue the ratification process in the hope
    that as many countries as possible approve the constitution
    and create a favourable balance of power for a late 2006 review.

    STOP - admit that the treaty is never going to enter
    into force and spare other member states the humiliation of
    losing referendums on a dead text; soldier on under the
    Treaty of Nice.

    PAUSE - admit the French and Dutch votes mean
    ratification will have to be extended since France and the
    Netherlands won't have reversed their votes by end 2006;
    agree a cooling-off period during which member states would
    be free to go ahead with or suspend ratification according
    to national circumstances.

    FAST FORWARD - accelerate the ratification process,
    possibly with a single day for a super-referendum in
    several countries; then hold an early summit to see how to
    move forward once it is clear how may countries back the
    treaty and how many don't.

    REWIND - recognise that the constitution in its current
    form will never fly; strip out a few key provisions needed
    to make the EU work more smoothly, such as the streamlined
    voting system and EU foreign minister, put them in a short
    protocol amending the Nice Treaty that could be ratified by
    national parliaments.

    Each of those options has variations, including
    traditional EU expedients such as asking a panel of "wise
    persons" or a "Mr Constitution" to suggest a way forward.

    Palmer goes one step further saying the citizens of each
    member country should vote for these "wise persons" so that
    they can then claim ownership of the constitution and,
    subsequently, of the Europe they live in.

    "The present crisis will not make it easier to solve
    the economic problems it will make it more difficult. But
    the crisis is telling us something even more imporatnt than
    the economy: it is saying the people do not feel ownership
    of the European Union process. So we have to say to
    ourselves: in the future how are going to move forward with
    a constitution, with a new treaty because we're growing
    we're expanding we've got new responsibilities we have to
    reform our process. How are we going to do that? In ways
    that involve the people.That is the 64,000 euros question.

    And I think that whatever happens to this treaty, there
    should be a new convention, elected directly by all the
    people of Europe," Palmer said.

    The European Commission publicly favours the first
    option -- keeping ratification going.

    But senior commissioners are privately much more
    reticent, worrying that another 18 months of losing
    referendum battles could do more damage to the EU's public
    standing and inhibit the Commission from driving forward
    economic liberalisation.

    Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose
    country holds the EU's rotating presidency, may propose the
    fast forward option of trying to reverse the negative
    dynamic by going for an accelerated ratification, a source
    close to him said.

    The strongly federalist Liberal group in the European
    Parliament called on Thursday for all the remaining
    countries to hold a "big bang" vote on a single day in Nov.

    1 Diplomats say there is no prospect that all 25 EU
    leaders will be able to agree to declare the treaty dead at
    their mid-June summit. The mourning process is bound to
    take longer.


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