NETHERLANDS:The EU constitution is dead and the Irish Government should not be supporting attempts to revive it, Dutch MP Harry van Bommel said yesterday.
In Dublin to attend a public meeting organised by the Campaign Against the EU Constitution last night, Mr Van Bommel said the Government should accept that there has been a French and Dutch no and not support the attempts of the German premier, Angela Merkel, to revive the constitution.
The Netherlands voted no to the EU constitution in June 2005, shortly after it was rejected by the French. This put on hold plans to streamline decision-making in the EU.
Germany, current holder of the EU presidency, is holding bilateral negotiations with all 27 EU states to see how it can resurrect the constitution or agree a new treaty that will meet the demands of all states.
Mr Van Bommel, a spokesperson on European affairs for the Socialist Party in the Dutch parliament, spearheaded the no campaign.
"Attempts to force us to accept this constitution would weaken the public support for the EU," he said.
"The EU would be seen as a political body that is not interested in the will of the people."
He had concerns about many aspects of the constitution, including "militarisation" of the EU and moves to create a "European market for public services".
Though describing himself as a Eurosceptic, he told The Irish Times he was not anti-EU.
"The EU has brought peace and prosperity to half a billion people," he said. "But it can only be a successful project if it has public support."
He said people had the idea that their world was changing at high speed and they did not have any say or control over it.
"It is happening as if it is a national disaster, such as a tsunami, taking over our daily lives and there is nothing you can do against it," he said.
He argued that the way forward would lie in a new treaty, based on the Treaty of Nice with some changes and not a "constitution light".
"A European superstate is not in the interest of the people and steps towards such a superstate should not be taken," he said.
Mr Van Bommel said that if Nicolas Sarkozy won the French presidential election there would be moves to push some form of the constitution, but if Ségolène Royal won there would be serious debate on the issues.
