Parts of the European Union Constitution could be introduced without a referendum in Britain, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Tuesday, a day after suspending plans for the treaty to be put to a popular vote.
Straw bolstered efforts by Prime Minister Tony Blair to calm a political storm sweeping Europe over the EU Constitution by saying it is not dead, despite the decision taken by Britain.
Straw, speaking on BBC radio, also tried to appease opponents of the Constitution who have warned that EU leaders may try to cherry-pick sections of the treaty and introduce them ”by the back door”.
”There will be no introduction of this constitutional treaty, or indeed of anything that looks like a constitutional treaty, by the back door. That could only come in the United Kingdom by a full debate and by a referendum,” Straw said.
But he said proposals that could be implemented without a plebiscite include one to give national Parliaments more say over EU decisions and another to base a member state’s voting power on its population.
Neither of these proposals was rejected by Britain’s various political parties, he argued.
”It would be absurd, if we could find a way of strengthening the role of the British House of Commons over EU legislation, to say that had to go to a referendum,” he said.
”The voting system will have to be changed at some stage because the Nice [Treaty] formula will have to be changed,” Straw added.
”I don’t think anyone would suggest that, if we were able to secure that change — it could actually happen in an accession treaty, or be tacked on to one — that that should go to a referendum.”
Straw said more momentous changes, such as the creation of a European foreign minister, will still have to be included in a constitutional treaty and subject to a referendum.
Straw told Parliament on Monday that his government is shelving plans for now on a referendum until the dust has settled on the rejection by French and Dutch voters of the Constitution in referendums they held on May 29 and last Wednesday, respectively.
He acknowledged that the French and Dutch votes have created a ”real problem” for the EU and been ”deeply traumatic” for its six founder members.
But he said that Britain cannot, on its own, declare the Constitution dead, something that is a decision for the EU as a whole.
It is ”conceivable” that Britain’s referendum could be resurrected if circumstances change, he added.
Speaking to the Financial Times newspaper on Monday before he flew to Washington, Blair urged viewing the Constitution’s rejection by French and Dutch voters as an ”opportunity” to set Europe on a clear path towards a future that everyone can embrace.
As the 25-member EU continues to expand, ”we will need that set of rules, and it is not for Britain to turn around and say the Constitution is dead, and that is why we are not saying that today”, the prime minister said. — Sapa-AFP