|
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Monday that Britain has postponed plans for a referendum on the EU constitution.
"We reserve completely the right to bring back the bill providing for a UK referendum should circumstances change. But we see no point in proceeding at this moment," Straw told the House of Commons.
"It is not for the UK alone to decide the future of the treaty," he said, adding the impact of the "no" votes must be discussed by European leaders at a summit in Brussels, Belgium next week.
"The EU has to come to terms with forces of globalization, in a way which maximizes prosperity, employment and social welfare," he said.
"The EU does now face a period of difficulty. In working in our interests and the Union's interests, we must not act in a way which undermines the EU's strengths and the achievements of five decades."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said the results of the French and Dutch referendums had to be discussed at the European Council summit later this month.
"Given that, it does not make sense to proceed at this point," said the spokesman. "Let's have a pause, let's reflect."
He insisted that indefinitely shelving the referendum did not send a message that Britain thought the constitution was dead, and said a referendum may still be possible in the future. Blair's government had not set a date for a referendum, but had introduced legislation in parliament that would allow a vote to take place.
"What we are doing is reflecting the fact that we are in uncertain times, and in uncertain times you should not just give a knee-jerk response. You should try to think your way through as to what the implications are," the spokesman said.
French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder have reaffirmed their commitment to the document and called on other member states to press ahead with ratification. Britain does not want to be seen publicly to be killing off the treaty by scrapping plans for a referendum, and Straw's statement is likely to stress the need for a period of reflection.
Germany renewed its insistence that the ratification process should go ahead.
"Ten countries have voted for the constitutional process, two against -- and it is the right but also the duty of every country to be able to have its say," said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's spokesman, Bela Anda, ahead of the announcement by Blair's office.
Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski was meeting yesterday with a group of advisers to discuss whether his country should hold a referendum.
Just before the announcement by Blair's office, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Truszczynski appealed to Britain not to back out of the ratification process.
"If the British hit the last nail to the treaty's coffin by announcing that they are backing out... then there is the question of what would happen to the ratification procedure in the other countries?" Truszczynski said on private radio TOK FM.
Blair's spokesman said the European Union needed to reflect on why France and the Netherlands rejected the treaty.
He suggested the "no" votes emphasized the need for economic reform of the bloc -- a key goal of Britain's upcoming six-month-long EU presidency.
The spokesman said Blair believes that "concerns about how the European economy responds to globalization" were behind the "no" votes.
"What we need is a proper, sensible rational debate about globalization and how Europe meets that challenge," he added.
Blair is scheduled to meet on Friday in London with a delegation from the European Parliament.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily June 7, 2005)
|
