Referendophobia
- Mrs. Merkel is doing all she can to avoid any referendum
Although it sounds like the title of a new Hollywood rubbish movie, reality is unfortunately meeting the fiction. Referendophobia, a blend of referendum and phobia (from the greek ????? "fear"), is a strong, persistent fear of referendums. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonnable desire to avoid asking the people. This disorder is generally inoffensive if contracted by regular citizens, but it can lead to disaster when combined with political responsibilities.
There are some good reasons to believe that Mrs. Merkel has contracted referendophobia. Her recent arrival to the presidency of the EU constitutes the unique opportunity to show her people that she is able to implement something! Her bet? Reviving the Constitution. The means? "Confidential consultations". Mrs. Merkel is ready to do whatever it takes to get the Constitution talks back on tracks, including avoiding to ask the people if they even want it!
Our advice: Referendophobia is highly addictive and might be transmitted by means of brainwashing. So avoid all contacts with Mrs. Merkel untill the critical period is over i.e. in June. For more information about the symptoms of this disorder, connect daily to this webpage!
How to pass a peopleproof Constitution?
The Constitution talks are back on tracks. Find out the latest comments and quotes of Mrs. Merkel and her fellow ministers throughout the EU. Follow their strategy set up to enforce the Constitutional Treaty!
- 26 June 2007: “The fundamentals of the Constitution have been maintained in large part… We have renounced everything that makes people think of a state, like the flag, and the national anthem.” Angela Merkel, El pais (25 June).
- 24 April 2007: In a letter sent to EU leaders, Mrs. Merkel was reported saying: “Every effort will have to be made to restrict change to what is absolutely necessary to reach an overall agreement and to ensure ratification by all member states.” Among the 12 listed discussion points she made clear statements that she intended to save as much as possible of the controversial constitutional treaty: “How do you assess the proposal made by some member states to use different terminology without changing the legal substance — for example with regard to the title of the treaty, the denomination of legal acts, and the union’s minister of foreign affairs.” In the same way, she asks whether to “replace the full text of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by a short cross reference having the same legal value” (Source: Times Online).
- 18 April 2007: According to the Financial Times, Angela Merkel "yesterday rolled out the red carpet for Europe's most eurosceptic leader - Czech president Václav Klaus - as she launched a two-month mission to save something from the wreckage of the EU Constitution." The key elements of her strategy are reported to be: avoiding referendums everywhere apart from Ireland and Denmark, changing the treaty’s name, winning over the Czechs and Poles, and adding new parts to appease the 16 countries that have already ratified the Constitution. (Sources: Financial Times, Open Europe).
- 30 March 2007: Chancellor Angela Merkel warned European Union governments of the risk of “widening the gap between the European institutions and the people of Europe” should the union not push ahead with institutional reforms as outlined in the Constitution. (Source: International Herald Tribune)
- 21 February 2007: In a speech at the London School of Economics on the 20 February, Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato has declared that he wished to "change the name but not the substance" of the Constitution. According to Amato: The good thing about not calling it a Constitution is that no one can ask for a referendum on it" (Source: Open Europe)
- 06 February 2007: Commenting the Dutch will to report the decision on whether to hold a referendum, Jose Manuel Barroso said: “Referendums make the process of approval of European treaties much more complicated and less predictable”, asking “every member state” considering a referendum to “think twice”. (Source: EUobserver)
- 01 February 2007: A Gordon Brown source told the Times that German Chancellor Angela Merkel “would insist that any changes that required a referendum were ‘off the table’ before negotiations on lesser changes could begin”. (Source: Open Europe)
- 30 January 2007: Despite a strong popular support for a referendum on the Constitution, Swedish EU-Minister Cecilia Malmstrom said that the Swedish government wants to keep "as much as possible" from the old Constitution proposal, adding that the government will avoid an "undesirable" referendum on the Treaty. (Source: Open Europe)
- 18 January 2007: "The best way is to reach a deal without referendums, the whole referendum procedure would take too long". Quotation of Janez Jansa, Prime Minister of Slovenia, who is working closely with Mrs. Merkel on the Constitution ahead of his country taking over the EU presidency next January. (Source: Financial Times)
- 17 January 2007: Mrs. Merkel declared that the "pause for reflection" on the stalled EU Constitution was over. Concerning the time table, she said that a decision about how to resurrect the controversial treaty must be reached by June - and implemented before European elections in 2009 (German Chancellor adressing the EU parliament).
