dennis mcshane
Former Italian PM: if people understood what was going on they would ask for a referendum
At a meeting of the Centre for European Reform yesterday EU officials discussed their strategy for adopting the EU
Constitution without a referendum. Former Italian PM Giuliano Amato said, “They decided that the document should be
unreadable. If it is unreadable, it is not constitutional, that was the sort of perception. Where they got this
perception from is a mystery to me. In order to make our citizens happy, to produce a document that they will never
understand! But, there is some truth [in it]. Because if this is the kind of document that the IGC will produce, any
Prime Minister – imagine the UK Prime Minister - can go to the Commons and say ‘look, you see, it’s absolutely
unreadable, it’s the typical Brussels treaty, nothing new, no need for a referendum.’ Should you succeed in
understanding it at first sight there might be some reason for a referendum, because it would mean that there is
something new.”
Macshane: please stop calling it a Constitution - “the game isn’t over yet”
Former Europe Minister Denis MacShane called on EU leaders to stop admitting that the new text is the same
as the old text: “Could you ask President Prodi back in Rome not to say this is a Constitution, could you ask
President Barroso not to say we’re creating a new form of empire, because, well, words mean something. A referendum
arose in Britain not because the anti-European right wanted it… It was people like Timothy Garton-Ash, newspapers
like the Guardian, the Independent, it was the Liberal Democrat party – all nominally pro-European – all insisting on
a referendum. So please, as a serious bid to about the only elected person here – do not assume the IGC is a done
deal, do not assume a fusion of the President with the Commission will not cause controversy… Do not assume the Dutch
Labour party will not call a referendum. Do not assume that the Conservative Party in this country, with the help of
the Liberal Democrats, will not insist on a referendum. The game isn’t over yet… The language is vital. The use of
the word Constitution was wrong. I suggest saying it’s still a Constitution, President Prodi and other European
leaders, is wrong.”
Peter Altmaier, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of the Interior said: “The new EU treaty is good news
for the pro-Europeans because as was said by the Vice-President of the Commission, most of the substance of the
former treaty was preserved…the pro-Europeans were joined by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who at the very
early stage was advocating a mini-treaty, but then realised after the French presidential election that he would of
course regain the leadership role for France in Europe if he was ready to accept almost everything as was in the old
constitutional treaty. And then Angela Merkel responded to that by accepting the idea that the substance should be
preserved.”
Comment: The sheer cynicism of the pro-euro lobby – and particularly their childish delight in the belief that they
will be able to fool the public by changing a few words – is absolutely stomach-churning.