Europese Groenen vragen EU-referendum over Grondwet

• 2004-05-14

De Europese Groenen menen dat binnen Europa een en hetzelfde referendum moet worden gehouden over de Europese Grondwet. Dat verkleint het risico dat burgers zo'n referendum zullen aangrijpen om een tussentijds rapport te maken van de regering in hun lidstaat.

Open letter to the European Council: Greens call for Europe-wide constitution referendum with clear choices

The Greens in the European Parliament today urged EU foreign ministers – who will meet in Brussels on Monday – to prepare the way for a Europe-wide referendum on the constitution, which should be endorsed by the European Council on 16-17 June. An open letter to the 25 heads of state and government and the 25 foreign ministers, signed by the group's Co-Presidents Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni and Johannes Voggenhuber, member of the European Convention, reads:

"Referendums are the right mechanisms for the adoption of constitutions. However national referendums include a danger that votes are made not on the issue of the constitution itself, but on the governments of the day and on domestic issues. Out of pragmatic political realism, we therefore propose that the Inter-Governmental Conference decides that ratification of the constitution be made through a Europe-wide referendum."

The letter stresses the advantage of such a procedure: "This proposal would be of benefit to many governments given the realities of their domestic situations, and would prevent a distorted debate on a very serious issue. Such a referendum would facilitate genuine debate about Europe."

Cohn-Bendit, Frassoni and Voggenhuber also write that the citizens must be confronted with a real choice. "We propose that the constitution can be considered as adopted if it is endorsed by more that half of the population of the Union and by a majority in at least three-quarters of Member States. Those countries that do not reach a majority for the constitution, should, after a certain period of time, carry out a further vote to see whether they want to stay in this Union with this constitution or leave it."

The Greens called on the European Council to respect the draft constitution produced by the Convention and not to take any further steps back from it. EU leaders were also urged to abolish the requirement of unanimity for changes to the third part of the constitution, which deals with the policies of the Union.

The full text of the letter follows.

To the Heads of State and Government and
the Foreign Ministers of the European Union
Brussels, 14 May 2004

The first of May was a historic date – the date on which the unification of Europe was accomplished. We Greens hope that the European Summit taking place 16 – 17 June will also find a place in the history books, namely as the day on which the European heads of State and Government reach agreement on a European constitution. We ask you, as the Foreign Ministers and Heads of Governments and State of your countries to make the fullest possible contribution so that the enlarged Union gets a foundation that is able to take its weight

We would like to remind you of the overwhelming consensus – a consensus that was also accepted by your personal representatives – reached in the Convention on the Future of Europe on proposals for a European democracy, for the deepening of the Union and for the extension of the EU's capacity for action.

We would also remind you that the draft constitution drawn up by the Convention involved, on many points, maximal compromises for the parliamentary majorities. Any further steps back from the Convention text by EU governments would consequently considerably lessen the confidence of the citizen in the Union.

We Greens are convinced that the method of Inter-Governmental negotiations, while once having legitimacy and a place in the process of European integration, has become an increasingly obsolete method. Inter-Governmentalism is no longer a method that benefits the development of the Union, neither in terms of democracy, nor capacity for action, nor the ability to successfully manage further integration.

Once again we emphatically appeal to you to introduce into the third part of the constitution a less cumbersome revision procedure, which does not rely on unanimity and which includes the full involvement of, and ratification through, the European Parliament.

Concerning the ratification of the constitution itself we propose the following. Referendums are the right mechanisms for the adoption of constitutions. However national referendums include a danger that votes are made not on the issue of the Constitution itself, but on the governments of the day and on domestic issues. Out of pragmatic political realism, we therefore propose that the Inter-Governmental Conference decides that ratification of the constitution is made through a Europe-wide referendum. This proposal would be of benefit to many governments given the realities of their domestic situations, and would prevent a distorted debate on a very serious issue. Such a referendum would facilitate genuine debate about Europe.

However the citizens must be aware that their vote would not exist without consequences. We propose that the constitution can be considered as adopted if it is endorsed by more that half of the population of the Union and by a majority in at least three-quarters of Member States. Those countries that do not reach a majority for the Constitution, should, after a certain period of time, carry out a further vote to see whether they want to stay in this Union with this constitution or leave it.

We sincerely hope that you will take the right steps at the forthcoming European Council and give the European Union a constitution that meets the expectation its citizens.
Yours sincerely

Daniel Cohn Bendit, Co-President of the Green/EFA Group at the European Parliament
Monica Frassoni, Co-President of the Green/EFA Group at the European Parliament
Johannes Voggenhuber, Member of the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs and of the Convention on the Future of Europe