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Matthew Vella
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has told MaltaToday the Maltese government does not consider it “necessary” to have a referendum on the upcoming, and hopefully soon-to-be finalised EU Constitution, the historic document that is set to supersede all former treaties for the European bloc.
The ratification of the EU Constitution will be the most significant test after enlargement for the Union, the first of which will determine the way the EU can function with 25 Member States. Ratification has to be achieved by unanimity.
The Nice Treaty was the last to have incurred squabbling and wrangling at the EU’s negotiating table, with Germany and Spain embroiled in a power play for five days and Spain threatening to veto.
Lawrence Gonzi told this newspaper that Malta’s circumstances were different from those of the original members, whose operations in the EU have in the past been different from the reality Malta encountered upon accession.
“When we went to vote in the EU referendum, the issues and questions which had been debated and negotiated on the political agenda were practically the issues which emerge in this very Constitution. During that time we were also taking part in the formation of the Constitution,” Gonzi said, who is ruling out a referendum on the Constitution.
The document, drawn up by a 105-member committee led by former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, calls for the European Union's six-month rotating presidency to be replaced by an EU president, elected from the heads of state for two and a half years, as well as the of an EU foreign minister.
The document also proposes the removal of veto on crucial areas of national competence, to be replaced by a qualified voting majority of over half of the EU members representing two-thirds of the EU population. It also commits the 15 members to come to each other’s defence in the event of terrorist attack.
Alternattiva Demokratika has expressed its support for a European-wide referendum on the EU Constitution: “This is a European Constitution not a national one,” EU affairs spokesperson and MEP candidate Arnold Cassola says.
However there is no sign of unanimous consensus between the EU members – an ordeal which has seen Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, which currently presides the Council of Ministers, tour the EU in the hope of striking agreement ahead of the crucial finalisation of the Constitution.
Labour EU spokesperson Evarist Bartolo believes the choice of referendum should not follow that of the model proposed by Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, who also stated his preference for a Europe-wide referendum as one way of avoiding national referenda, since these could add pressure on the process.
“Personally I believe that every country has its own specific reality and a one-size-fits-all referendum would not be sensitive enough to the diversity of the 25 member states that the present draft of the Constitutional Treaty declares it wants to safeguard and celebrate,” Bartolo said.
So far the Labour Party has not taken a stand on whether Maltese ratification of EU Constitutional Treaty should be through a direct national referendum. “Our position is that Government should keep Parliament informed fully of what is going on in the process shaping this Treaty, but instead of facing questions it prefers to inform a section of the media about what went on in Monday’s ministerial session of the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels,” Bartolo told MaltaToday.
A keen supporter for national referenda is Jens-Peter Bonde, Danish eurosceptic at the head of the Europe for Democracy and Diversity within the European Parliament, who recently wrote in The Times of his hope to see a “wave of referenda” following British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s promise to hold a plebiscite on the EU Constitution.
At present, only Denmark and Ireland have held referenda in order to ratify new EU treaties. Luxembourg, Holland, Spain, Poland and Portugal have also indicated they would opt for referenda. The Czech Republic will be holding a referendum since it is believed it does not have enough parliamentary support to ratify the Constitution.
Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said earlier this week he would like to organise a non-binding consultative referendum on the Constitution, held within 50 days of the agreement on the final text.
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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