Deense premier tegen Europabreed referendum over Grondwet (en)

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday (28 April ) rejected calls for a Europe-wide referendum on the future EU Constitution.

Answering questions in the Danish parliament Mr Rasmussen said, he could not - and would not - support a referendum held at the European level.

The eurosceptic Danish Peoples Party had suggested that separate referenda should be held in all the 25 EU member states on the same date in order to avoid a skewed result if the more pro-European countries voted first.

Others, among them German Finance Minister Hans Eichel and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, have mooted the possibility of a Europe-wide referendum.

"When we consider holding such a referendum, it should be a European vote, a Europe-wide referendum and not eight or 10 or 15 or 25 single nation ballots", Mr Schüssel said recently.

The Danish PM would however be opposed to both ideas, the debate in the Danish parliament revealed.

"In practise it would be difficult to find a common day - we as an example have different procedures for ratification in the various countries. Also, I do not want to initiate a Europe-wide poll, because it is a national Danish decision. Such a proposal [Europe-wide poll] I could not support", Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in the Danish parliament, Folketinget.