Greens call for EU-wide poll on constitution

The proposed European constitution must be put to the peoples of Europe in an EU-wide referendum, the Green Party has urged.

Unless such a step is taken, the document's pretence of democracy will be a "complete sham," according to the party chairman, Mr John Gormley TD.

Mr Gormley, speaking at a weekend seminar in Dublin on Europe organised by the Greens, said a referendum throughout the member-states would also prevent a recurrence of Ireland's isolation on the Nice Treaty, when the debate became a question of "Nice or Bust".

By leading the opposition to the Nice Treaty, the Greens performed a democratic service, he added.

Yet instead of being valued, they were "vilified" and there was still within the party a "residual bitterness towards an establishment that could go to such lengths to get its own way".

Mr Gormley said "official Ireland" was backed against a wall. "If Ireland voted No under the rules requiring unanimity, we would have blocked the treaty. The most compelling argument for voting Yes, therefore, had nothing to do with the treaty and everything to do with the fact that Ireland would block the treaty if there was a second No vote."

The ratification process needed to be altered. "In a Europe-wide referendum, held on the same days in member-states, arguments could centre on the merits or otherwise of the constitution and not on the political consequences of voting Yes or No."

Holding such a poll - ideally on the same day as the European elections in June 2004 - would give the constitution "real democratic legitimacy", he added. "Not to do so would simply reinforce the impression of a deep democratic deficit in Europe; it would also send a signal that Europe is not about the people but about the governing elites."

Since the EU consisted both of citizens and of member-states, Mr Gormley said, the fairest and most democratic means of consulting the people would be a referendum based on "dual majority".

This would mean that a majority of citizens and a majority of member-states would be needed to secure ratification. In the event that some states found themselves in the minority, they should have the option of accepting the majority decision or regulating their relationship with the EU.

The latter option could include secession, a clause for which should feature in the constitution, Mr Gormley added. He also proposed a "multi-stage right of initiative" for EU citizens under which a petition of 400,000 signatures would be enough to have a proposed initiative debated by the EU institutions.

Likewise, a "citizen's demand" - backed up by three million signatures, with not more than half coming from any one state - would secure a referendum on any given subject, except a proposed amendment to the constitution or to an existing treaty, which would require six million signatures.

Former Taoiseach Dr Garret Fitzgerald told the conference that key argument over the EU's future was not "federalism versus anti-federalism". Instead, it was the attempt by larger countries to strengthen the role of the Council of Ministers at the expense of the Commission, which had traditionally guaranteed the rights of smaller states.

The attempt to establish a president of the EU council was of special concern, he added.

Dr Fitzgerald said yesterday he believed the referendum proposal was an "excellent" idea, but the history of referendums in Germany - particularly by Hitler - made it a difficult issue for Germans.