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Denmark would put EU constitution to referendum: foreign minister

09 June 2006, 12:24 CET


Denmark favours the adoption of the European Constitution, currently in limbo, but would only ratify the document by referendum, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller told AFP on Monday.

Moeller's statement was intended to clarify his position after he had suggested in the Danish press that a revised version of the treaty might not be put to a popular vote.

This apparent abandonment of the Danish government's commitment to consult the people over the constitution had provoked hostile reactions both from the far-right Danish People's Party, a partner in the governing coalition, and from the opposition Social Democrats and People's Socialists.

"I wish to clarify that the ratification of the text could not happen any other way than via a referendum in Denmark", Moeller stressed, following comments published on Monday by the Danish daily Politiken in which he said a vote "would not necessarily be needed if it is only a change in the rules of the game".

In his comments in Politiken, the foreign minister had noted that Denmark ratified the 2001 Nice treaty without a referendum, and said he foresaw the adoption of "a lighter version of the treaty".

Moeller was speaking after a two-day EU ministerial conclave in Vienna centred on reviving the disputed constitution.

The conclave agreed to prolong a period of reflection called after French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty in referendums last year.

When that period eventually ends, the treaty will either have to be adopted in its current form, ditched, or altered to make it more attractive to voters.

"We do not know if this treaty can be ratified in all the member states," Moeller told AFP.

"That is why there are a number of possible scenarios, and nobody really knows what will happen, nor when, if at all, there will be a referendum in Denmark."

The Scandinavian country had planned to hold a referendum in September 2005, but postponed it indefinitely after the French and Dutch rejections.


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