Britain to shelve vote on EU constitution
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-06 19:37

LONDON - Britain will suspend legislation on Monday to set up a referendum on the new European Union constitution, already overwhelmingly rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands.

The move is a step short of publicly declaring the constitution dead, an act for which no EU government wants to take the lead for fear of being blamed for its demise.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will tell parliament at 1430 GMT that legislation to enable a referendum will be frozen for now because of the uncertainty about the constitution's future.

"It doesn't make sense to proceed at this point," Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told reporters. "That does not mean we are withdrawing the option."

London does not want to call the charter dead unilaterally before it takes the presidency of the bloc in July.

It insists any decisions should wait for the EU summit on June 16 marking the end of Luxembourg's presidency but officials say Blair sees no prospect now of winning support from Britons for the charter.

"There is an issue to be discussed at the European Council," Blair's spokesman said. "Europe as a whole needs to think of the issues behind these votes."

Political analysts say the Netherlands and France have sounded the death knell for a charter that advocates argue is vital to streamline the 25-nation bloc's cumbersome bureaucracy but which opponents say would hand too much power to Brussels.

When Blair announced his referendum plan late last year, it was clear the intention was to hold it in the first few months of 2006.

"PLEASE CONTINUE"

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for ratification to proceed after they held an emergency meeting in Berlin on Saturday.

And Poland called on Britain on Monday to keep alive the ratification process by not shelving referendum plans.

Deputy Foreign Minister Jan Truszczynski said even though the constitution was "politically dead," the process of its ratification must continue.

"If the British hit the proverbial nail into the coffin of the constitution by saying they are backing out of a referendum, then there is a question about what would happen with ratification in other countries," he told private radio TOK FM.

Britain's voice is especially important, he said, since it will take over the EU's rotating presidency in July.

Ten EU countries, accounting for about half the bloc's population, have approved the constitution but the rejections by French and Dutch voters have raised doubts about whether it remains viable.

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