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Europe
EU constitution cannot be re-negotiated, says d'Estaing
2005-05-20
LONDON - The European Union's first ever constitution cannot be re-negotiated if French voters reject the document in a referendum, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing said Thursday.

Giscard d'Estaing, who chaired the convention which drafted the constitution, described re-negotiation of the treaty as "impossible" and said there was thankfully no "plan B." "There is absolutely no opening for that. What do you want to re-negotiate? We had a long negotiation. The convention first, where you could express all your demands, and then intergovernmental negotiation for one full year," he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Polls have consistently shown that France is split down the middle over how to vote in its widely watched referendum on May 29. Surveys have also shown many French opponents believe it is possible to draft a better constitution, and hope to send the message that they want leaders to return to the drawing board.

Campaigners have not cleared up the confusion. French President Jacques Chirac has warned that there is no chance the treaty could be re-negotiated if France votes "no." However former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, a leading opponent and the No. 2 Socialist Party official, insisted on French television over the weekend, saying that a re-negotiation was possible. Giscard d'Estaing said re-negotiation would be a "useless and nonproductive confrontation" and added, "I think for a long while nothing could be done.
And does that tell you something? No?
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, which has also pledged to hold a referendum on the treaty, will closely watch the French result. Britain insists it will hold a referendum regardless of how votes turn out in other European countries. It hasn't set a date for a referendum, however, and has sent mixed messages about the implications of France's rejecting the treaty.

Blair suggested last month that a French rejection could scuttle the constitution and make a British vote pointless. "If there is still a constitution there has got to be a referendum on it," he said last month. "If what was to happen was France was to say 'no' and then the rest of Europe were to tear up the constitution and say 'we're forgetting about it,' you wouldn't have a referendum on nothing."
I'm betting Tony hits his knees every night praying that the French get him off the hook on this one.
Posted by:Steve White

#13  Woo-hoo, TGA! Go for it. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-05-20 22:51  

#12  What a nonsense. Everything can be re-negotiated. Even the US-constitution has had amendments.

Giscard better shuts up or the French WILL find out that he wrote the big book... and the French DO NOT like Giscard.

And sometimes aristocrats end up a head short in France.
Posted by: True German Ally   2005-05-20 19:41  

#11  What a joke. A "constitution" that's so opaque that no one can even agree on basic aspects of the process for ratifying it.
Posted by: thibaud (aka lex)   2005-05-20 16:38  

#10  Giscard is probably correct. The "Constitution" was drafted with the pre-expansion EU. The French, with Axis of Weasel assistance, could not shove the crap Giscard came up with down the throats of people who gave the Russians the finger only 15 years ago without serious negotiation. It will take at least 25 more years for Brussels to completely Eurofy them.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-05-20 16:35  

#9  Lets have a comparison:

U.S Constitution -
Words: 4,736 (including signatures)
Paragraphs: 142
Pages: 13
Posted by: mojo   2005-05-20 11:53  

#8  Considering this is a "draft" constitution and they're going to keep tweaking it, of course it can be renegotiated.
Posted by: anonymous2u   2005-05-20 10:58  

#7  I'm betting Tony hits his knees every night praying that the French get him off the hook on this one.

So that's how he got that slipped disc...
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-05-20 10:50  

#6  He's still alive?
Posted by: tu3031   2005-05-20 10:45  

#5  "...many French opponents believe it is possible to draft a better constitution..."
No doubt just a bunch of illiterate peasants living in the red provinces who have been exposed to that cowboy Bush's "We the people..." propaganda.
Posted by: Tom   2005-05-20 09:41  

#4  Well it's "his baby" Of course it can be regiggerred. Saying it can't is patent bull crap.
His ego is all wrapped up in his creation.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom   2005-05-20 01:37  

#3  Giscard d’Estaing said re-negotiation would be a “useless and nonproductive confrontation” and added, “I think for a long while nothing could be done."

Would monsieur care to elaborate on this? Or is he satisfied with sounding like he's totally full of horseshit?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-05-20 01:12  

#2  If the phrench vote "YES" Lance Armstrong is assured to win the Tour de France. So vote yes please.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom   2005-05-20 12:24:24 AM  

#1  Sounds like Giscard has an ego problem. If the EU constitution *does* have to be re-negotiated, there would be lots of room for improvements. First of all, it would have to include all of the new members, their interests and concerns. Second of all, it could include a declaration that power derives from the people, not the government or bureaucracy; and that these people have certain unalienable rights, among which is the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And they could even throw in a "Bill of Rights" for what every European could easily understand and know are their rights, that government cannot infringe. But that would be really radical, and so very un-European, no?
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-05-20 00:16  

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