Call for fair referendums on the EU Constitution
Call for fair referendums on the EU Constitution
Letter to the Editor of The Times, by Thomas Rupp (director European No Campaign), Jan Marijnissen and Harry van Bommel (Dutch MPs for the Socialist Party) and people from 14 other countries
During 2005 and 2006 at least 11 EU countries will hold referendums on the proposed EU Constitution. As supporters of the European No Campaign we believe it is vital that this fundamental change is widely debated across Europe, and we are therefore making three simple demands.
First, every member state should accept that the overwhelming majority of their voters want the final say, and hold referendums. Second, governments and national electoral authorities should ensure that during each referendum, media coverage is balanced and public funds are not misused to give ‘Yes’ campaigners an advantage. Third, governments must accept the results of each referendum, and respect the fact that a national ‘No’ vote means the proposed Constitution must be rejected.
Europe is at a crossroads; public confidence in EU institutions is at an all-time low. We think Europe deserves better and hope that this EU Constitution will be rejected. It would be a mistake for Europe’s elites to attempt further integration without a comprehensive mandate from Europe’s people.
Yours faithfully,
Thomas Rupp (director ENC)
Harry van Bommel
Jan Marijnissen
People from 14 other countries
The ENC letter to the editor was sent to Der Standard (AT) - DNES, PRAVO (CZ) - Die Welt, FAZ (DE) - Politiken (DK) - El Mundo, El Pais (ES) - Le Figaro, Le Monde, Nouvel Observateur (FR) - Helsingin Sanomat (FI) - Irish Times (IE) - Luxemburger Wort (LU) - NRC Handelsblad, De Volkskrant, De Telegraaf (NL) - Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita (PL) - Dagens Nyheter, Svenska dagbladet (SE) - The Times (UK) - Malta Independent, The Malta Times (MT) - SME (SK)