Giscard pleit voor uitstel van onderhandelingen over Grondwet (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The architect of Europe's draft constitution, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, has urged member states to take their time in trying to restart the stalled talks.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday (19 December), the former French President said a long period of reflection was needed before talks on the Constitution, which collapsed in acrimony mid-December, should begin again.

"A good time would be the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005," he said. "A hasty movement will only reinforce the antagonism".

Mr Giscard said the European Council, where the talks collapsed, "represented a fine opportunity that has been missed".

He also criticised the Italian Presidency for its handling of the talks. While praising "Italian diplomacy" generally he echoed the disapproval that has been heard in other quarters about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusoconi's negotiations methods.

No real debate

He said there had been no "real debate" in the plenary session and that on the new voting system, over which the talks fell, there had been room for manoeuvre but "it was not explored".

Mr Giscard, whose authoritarian manner in the Convention on the Future of Europe meant that a draft Constitution saw the light of day at all, remains confident that 'his' treaty will prevail.

"Neither at the IGC [intergovernmental talks] nor at the European Council of Brussels was any credible alternative proposed".

He added that he was "convinced it would be adopted".