Schroeder vows EU fight
 | |
| |
| RELATED |
• Dutch PM: Vote on treaty not me
• Barroso: 'No' vote failure for EU
|
| EU CONSTITUTION | • Permanent EU president to replace six-month rotating presidencies
• EU foreign minister to conduct common foreign policy
• Qualified majority voting in most areas with vetoes limited
• Commission to be reduced to 15 with 10 non-voting associates
• Policy areas covered by European Parliament up from 34 to 70
• Legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights
|
|
LUXEMBOURG -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has vowed to keep on fighting for the proposed EU constitution.
As Europe agonizes over the future of the EU treaty after defeats in France and the Netherlands, the German leader sought to remove the crisis atmosphere on the continent.
On Thursday, Schroeder held meetings with Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker, whose nation currently holds the presidency of the 25-member bloc.
"Ratification must continue. We must decide what to do at the end of that process," Schroeder told reporters.
"Every form of overreaction at this stage is wrong."
Latvian lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the constitution Thursday, but the French and Dutch "No" votes leave the charter -- which needs approval from all EU nations to take effect -- up in the air. (Full story)
In a bid to win back the confidence after the stinging EU rebuke, Paris unveiled a slimmed-down government to be led by new Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Foreign minister Michel Barnier became another casualty of Sunday's referendum vote. He is being replaced by 52-year-old former health minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, a novice in international affairs. (Full story)
The British government is expected to consider the rejections when it decides whether to hold its own referendum.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, has called for a pause for reflection.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, seeking to head off a stampede of rejection, pleaded with other member states not to take any unilateral steps before the European summit in two weeks.
Most European leaders said they were now looking toward a June 16-17 Brussels summit that has assumed crucial importance in determining the road ahead for the bloc.
One of the leaders of the Dutch "No" campaign, Grondwet Nee president Willem Bos, told CNN it was "very clear the (Dutch ) people don't want this constitution."
Bos said the result was not a vote against European integration, but rather against the way the EU was functioning.
A provisional final result posted by Dutch news agency ANP shows a comprehensive 61.6 percent of voters were opposed to the charter, while only 38.4 percent approved.
A final result will be known on June 6 after postal votes are counted.
Supporters in the Netherlands had argued the constitution would streamline decision-making in the union, and create a single foreign minister to give Europe more sway in international affairs. The Netherlands was one of the EU's founding members. But many Dutch remained unconvinced.
Critics feared the Netherlands, with just 16.4 million people, would be engulfed by a superstate headquartered in Brussels and dominated by Germany, France and Britain.
The negative votes in the Netherlands and France were largely the result of poor economies, and concerns about immigration, EU expansion and the loss of national identity, said CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley.
Unemployment in the Netherlands has risen from 3.3 percent to 6.7 percent over the last three years, he added.
The new EU charter must be approved by all 25 EU members -- either by referendum or parliament -- to become effective in October 2006.
So far, 10 countries have ratified the constitution: Austria, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia by votes of their parliaments; and Spain by a referendum.
