Spanish-Luxembourg initiative on the Constitution should be rejected

12.27.30pm GMT Thu 21st Dec 2006

Liberal and Democrat spokesman on constitutional affairs, Andrew Duff (UK, Lib Dem) has strongly criticised the decision of the Spanish and Luxembourg governments to initiate their own meetings on the Constitution:

"The initiative of Spain and Luxembourg carry the serious risk of dividing the Union. To hold a conference only for those who have ratified the constitution threatens to gang up on the refuseniks.

"The only way this crisis can be solved is if all member states arrive at a common position informed by a debate involving all of them. No solution can be imposed by one group of states upon another and all must be prepared to face criticism and evaluation from their peers."

"The proposed conferences in Madrid and Luxembourg are hugely undermining of the efforts of the German presidency, whose duty it is to come up with proposals to renegotiate the 2004 constitutional treaty.

"There is no point in people moaning that the ratification is blocked. Everyone knows that the system of entrenched unanimity (Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union) does not allow for any country to say No. No one at the IGC proposed to alter this. And I do not recall any member state advocating the preparation of a serious contingency plan in the perfectly foreseeable circumstances that one or more states would reject the text.

"These ill-judged meetings should be cancelled and the German presidency fully supported in its efforts to improve and rescue the Constitution."

Editors' Note:

1. Spain and Luxembourg have invited the 18 countries which have effectively ratified the constitution to a private meeting in Madrid on 26 January, followed by another for all states in Luxembourg on 27 February.

2. Andrew Duff's Plan B: how to rescue the Constitution was published by Notre Europe in October. www.notre-europe.eu