EU treaty vote “in early 2006”
Britain may hold a referendum on the European Union Constitution “in early 2006”, the Foreign Secretary said on Friday.
Speaking before Prime Minister Tony Blair officially signed Britain up to the treaty in Rome, Mr Straw said although no precise date could be given, the vote could take place in early 2006.
Mr Straw said the exigencies of Britain’s presidency of the EU next year would make it nigh impossible to combine the presidency and overseeing the referendum.
After two years of political wrangling, the constitution was agreed upon in June by the EU’s 25 member states.
It makes the way for a new post of EU president and foreign minister, streamlines legislation across countries, and undergirds the role of the European parliament.
Nation states must ratify the treaty before it can come into force.
Should one EU state reject the treaty, it remains uncertain whether the treaty will go ahead in its current form.
Fourteen member states are to hold referenda on whether to ratify the historic agreement.
Michael Ancram, Conservative Party Foreign Affairs Spokesman, disagreed with Mr Straw’s view that a referendum could not be held during Britain’s presidency of the EU.
He said it was a mere delaying tactic.
He pledged the Conservatives would hold a referendum by next October if they won the next general election, predicted for May next year.
“What we are seeing today is the opposite of democracy in action,” he said.
“I would have liked to have seen this put to the people before there was an agreement on it by the leaders of the various European countries. This is not a matter for leaders to decide, it is a matter for the peoples of the various countries of Europe to decide.
“The pomp and ceremony of signing a treaty which the British people have indicated in opinion poll after opinion poll they don’t want shows, in my view, a contempt for the people.”
Neil O’Brien, director of the “Vote No’ campaign group, said Mr Straw had “fired the starting gun on the constitution debate”.
Jose Manuel Barroso, incoming president of the European Commission, said ratification of the treaty was by no means a certainty and consequently urged governments and citizens in Europe to “rise to the challenges we face”.
Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, said his “impatience” on ratifying the EU constitution would spread to other member states.
Mr Berlusconi committed Italy to immediately ratifying the treaty.
“This afternoon I called an extraordinary council of ministers that is going to approve the bill that the government is going to pass on to parliament, because Italy would like to be the first country to ratify this constitution.
“We are enthusiastic about it, and we hope it’s going to be contagious.”
A Downing Street spokesman said Britain would be “leading from the front” in giving Europe direction on economic reform and enlargement.
“It was clearly a Europe in which we felt at home,” the spokesperson added.
