Madam, - Your Editorial of February 8th on the need for referendums gives an erroneous impression of the position of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. You state that President Barroso's view is that the citizens of the EU can't be trusted to know what's best and that he reinforces the image of a Europe of elites.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. President Barroso has stated time and time again that the decision regarding the future of the Constitutional Treaty, and whether any new treaty should be ratified through referendum or a parliamentary procedure, is entirely a matter for the member-states. The idea that a Europe of the elites is being railroaded past a European electorate simply holds no water at a time when the President or Commissioners have made 150 visits to national parliaments as part of Plan D (for democracy, dialogue and debate), a plan supported and endorsed by the Irish government. On the contrary, as President Barroso stated when he debated the future of Europe with the Dutch Parliament on February 8th, he believes the EU needs to become more accountable and more democratic, and that it should not be a project of the elites.
The Commission hopes that with the Berlin Declaration to be made to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome on March 25th, the necessary momentum can be generated to move the institutional process forward towards a solution that can have broad support in all 27 member-states. - Yours, etc,
MARTIN TERRITT, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, Dawson Street, Dublin 2.