French ‘no’ would be problem for EU
The UK’s new Minister for Europe today said there would be a problem for the European Union if a member state did not ratify the European Constitutional treaty.
Douglas Alexander echoed the comments of his boss, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, when he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If there was a case where a member state did not ratify it, as Jack Straw said yesterday, this would be a problem for the European Union.”
France is set to vote on whether to adopt the EU Constitution later this month, and many Europhiles are nervous about the consequences of a “no” vote.
It has caused speculation that Britain would abandon plans to hold its own referendum on the treaty, but Mr Alexander said there was “no question of the people of Britain being denied a referendum on the treaty.”
The Conservatives want the Government to prove its commitment to a referendum by naming a date.
Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Dr Liam Fox told the same programme that “the British people should have a say and the British government should give clarification by setting a date for that referendum now.”
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell also urged the Government to put an end to uncertainty. “The effect of a French veto will be to render the constitutional treaty ineffective,” he said.
“The British public would think it a particular form of political madness to ask them to vote in a referendum whose result would be meaningless in such circumstances.”
Mr Alexander said a bill would be introduced to Parliament “in the days to come”
He added: “As long as there is a treaty we will have a referendum but there needs to be a treaty to vote on. That is common sense.”
On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged there would be a problem for Europe if the French said “no” to the treaty.
And at the weekend, Denis MacShane, Mr Alexander’s predecessor as Minister for Europe said a “no” in France would leave the treaty dead in the water.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU commission, has admitted that there is no “plan B”.
He told French radio Europe One on Wednesday: “It would be perceived as a weakness of France, and of Europe. Outside of the EU, in the US, in China, people would say: Europe is not even capable of agreeing on a constitutional treaty.
“It would be very bad”, he said.
“The French have a great responsibility with this vote.”
The French vote takes place on May 29.
