Europarlementariërs pleiten voor gelijktijdig referendum over EU-grondwet in de lidstaten (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Members of the European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee have suggested a co-ordination of the ratification timetable for the European Constitution.

Chairman of the Committee Jo Leinen proposed that next year, in May, a European Week be chosen for the purpose.

He suggested 5-8 May to include dates which are "significant for the Post-War period" - 8 May is VE day (Victory in Europe).

Adopted in June by the 25 EU leaders and to be signed on 29 October in Rome, the European Constitution must also be ratified by each of the member states.

The idea of harmonising the timeframe for the ratification process was received positively by the chairman of the current Dutch EU Presidency, Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot.

"It is good if we are as close as possible on dates", he said while addressing MEPs on the issue.

However, he said there would be a problem in harmonising the process because there are different ratification procedures in the 25 EU member states - also that different arguments are needed to persuade the Greeks, as opposed to the Dutch, the Finns or the Latvians.

He also mentioned the tendency by one member state to wait for another to stick its political neck out.

"There is an interesting tendency - a race to postpone things - at the moment. All seem to hope for two to three other countries to go forward, to determine a date and secure a Yes vote, which the other could then point to", he said.

A referendum is foreseen in ten countries, while only one country, Spain, has actually set a concrete date - 27 February 2005.

Mr Bot said he personally preferred to have a referendum in his own country, the Netherlands, during spring when most people "are in a good mood".

The Dutch EU presidency has called for an informal meeting in Amsterdam on 5 October to discuss a common strategy for communicating Europe to the citizens.

A minority of MEPs in the committee, who oppose the Constitution, called for equal funding of the referendum campaigns for the yes and the no side.

This was, however, turned down by the Dutch foreign minister.

Mr Bot pointed out that the Constitution had been adopted unanimously by the 25 EU Governments and that they were to forward the same message to the European citizens - that the Constitution is good.

"The governments have signed and have a right to defend their decision and to say what they think of the situation", Mr Bot said.

"We are not living in a totalitarian system. I am sure the media will be able to express the opinion of those against and in favour of the treaty", the Dutchman added.