Europarlementariërs pleiten voor bevriezing ratificatieproces (en)

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - Hans-Gert Pottering, the leader of the largest faction in the European Parliament, called for the ratification process of the EU Constitution to be "suspended for a while" during Wednesday's (8 June) keynote debate on the treaty in Strasbourg.

But many MEPs left the door open for the treaty to be revived in some form in future.

Mr Pottering indicated that the EU risks "disorientation" if it moves too fast after the French and Dutch no votes last week, but stopped short of pronoucing the document dead, adding that "we must establish political clarity on how to proceed on the path to ratification".

Leader of the liberals, Graham Watson, recommended a period of "serious reflection" instead of "crying over spilled milk".

Socialist MEPs also lined up to defend the ongoing viability of the document, with German member Jo Leinen saying "the constitution is not dead, it's still alive, because we haven't heard of a better alternative".

Spanish left-wing veteran Enrique Baron Crespo questioned the relevance of the French and Dutch votes on the grounds that they were largely expressions of no confidence on the national governments.

"The French no vote should not be as good as a veto", he added.

And Czech socialist Libov Roucek remarked that "so far, the score is 10-2 for the constitution", while Socialist member Genowefa Kwestor Grabowska declared "I come from Poland and I want to have a say on the treaty".

The Luxembourg presidency and the commission threw their weight behind the calls for a new political consensus on European integration.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso mirrored Mr Baron Crespo's arguments, saying the recent no votes were marred by considerations of national issues and noted that "it would be a false solution to abandon the project of the constitutional treaty".

And Luxembourg's deputy foreign minister Nicolas Schmit said the presidency's understanding of citizens' wishes so far, is a degree of dissatisfaction with the EU coupled with a "strong committment" to the European idea.

But some centre-right delegates were less upbeat than their colleagues.

Arrogance

"We have reached the limit of integration", noted German EPP-ED member Hartmut Nassauer, while eurosceptic MEPs called the treaty "dead" and attacked any notion of future ratification as "arrogant and anti-democratic".

The EU is due to hold a debate on the future of the document at the highest level in Brussels in the coming week, while Luxembourg is next in line to express its wishes via referendum on 10 July.

But polls show that negative feelings toward the charter are still on the rise in certain member states, such as Poland, which would be likely to return a 60 percent no vote if a referendum was held today.