Nog geen zicht op einde impasse Europese grondwet (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - One year, several meetings, reflections and half-statements later and it is clear that Europe is still not sure how to take the EU constitution out of its moribund state.

The "period of reflection" started after French and Dutch voters put the bloc in turmoil by rejecting the constitution on 29 May and 1 June last year, officially ended over the weekend.

But it was with more of a sigh than any sort of fanfare.

Foreign ministers met near Vienna on Saturday and Sunday to discuss plans how to get the document, which has been ratified by 15 member states, back on track.

After the meeting, Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik announced that "the thunderstorm clouds of the last year are slowly disappearing" but there was little of substance to mask the continuing divisions between member states.

Germany has agreed to make the first serious attempt at resuscitating the constitution and plans to put forward a concrete proposal next June, effectively putting off the whole issue for another year - and restarting another period of reflection.

Also emerging from the meeting was an apparent consensus that the term "EU constitution" needs to be dropped in favour of something more palatable to EU citizens.

The big issues

But the big issues remain. These include whether the document should be put once again to voters in France and the Netherlands and whether a cosmetic name change would be enough to make them vote differently.

The other main issue is the spectre of referendums on the constitution in the UK, Denmark and the Czech Republic, all with sceptical electorates.

But taking some parts of the constitution out and ratifying them separately, possibly without the need for referendums, is also likely to prove difficult.

The constitution was drafted over two and half years of painful give-and-take bargaining. Taking out some bits, particularly concerning sensitive decision-making areas, would only unravel the whole carefully-balanced package.

However, scrapping the constitution in favour of a different, simpler treaty opens the question of what to do with the countries that have already accepted the constitution as it is - including Italy, Germany and Spain - the latter by referendum.

Polls one year later

Polls conducted in France and the Netherlands to mark the one year anniversary of the rejection of the constitution by two founding member states do little to make the picture more optimistic.

A poll conducted for British think tank Open Europe suggests a new referendum would see the no camp's lead increase in both France and the Netherlands, when compared to last year.

Among the French, the survey revealed 55.5% would reject the constitution today (compared to the 54.5% that did reject it last year) while 65% (compared to 61.5%) of Dutch would say no to the treaty.

In both countries, a high percentage - 74% in France and 75% in the Netherlands - believe that no parts of the constitution should be implemented unless they are agreed in fresh referendums.

Using this fresh data and the fact that France voted one year ago today, anti-constitution campaigners in Paris are using the day to take to the streets to campaign for a new Europe without the EU charter.