German MEP slams Britain's stance on EU constitution

(BRUSSELS) - Britain's opposition to plans for a revamped European Union treaty threatens to split the bloc, the head of the European parliament's constitutional affairs committee charged Wednesday.

Jo Leinen, a German socialist MEP, said Britain's stance was complicating the negotiation process and "endangering consensus and a resolution in June".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of June, plans to present the 27 EU nations with plans to replace the original EU constitution before the German mandate expires.

The original constitution collapsed after French and Dutch voters rejected it in 2005 national referendums.

Germany and others hope to have a new treaty in place before European parliamentary elections in 2009. Such a treaty is deemed essential in order to streamline the workings of the European Union, which has ballooned from 15 to 27 member states since 2004.

Leinen said that the British, the Czechs and the Poles were the only EU nations questioning the substance of the treaty during talks in Berlin on Tuesday, with the British putting up the most obstacles.

"I cannot imagine that one country with one point could stop 26 from doing what has been agreed...

"To go back and destroy an agreement you need more than one country so I would say Britain is pretty much isolated on most of its proposals," he told AFP.

Leinen outlined a raft of objections brought up by Britain at a meeting of national "sherpas" on the constitutional issue in Berlin Tursday.

"The British position is the most complicated," he said, listing opposition from London to use of the term 'constitution' or mention of the EU flag, anthem or other "connotations of a European state".

But beside such matters of terminology and symbolism "the British government seems to bring forward really substantive elements that have been agreed and would really change the whole nature of the treaty," Leinen said.

"They don't want a charter of fundamental rights, they don't want an elected president of the European Council, they don't like the concept of a European foreign minister."

He added that Britain also opposed the idea of extending the qualified majority voting system, which would get rid of national vetoes in key areas.

"This position is of course a bump. If this is the British position till June it could block and even split the EU," he said.

"I think (outgoing British Prime Minister) Tony Blair really has a responsibility," he added. "All these points have been negotiated for three years and agreed".

The situation in France and the Netherlands, where the people rejected the constitution, is different, said Leinen. In contrast Britain's stance is "quite arbitrary".

He accused London of seeking to profit from Merkel's desire to propose a road map for the constitutional process within weeks.

But he said he would not be in principle opposed to the German EU presidency offering Britain an opt-out in the sensitive areas of police and judicial cooperation on criminal issues, when national vetoes are abolished.

"The opt-out is a method to overcome problems," he said, adding however that the cope of any opt-out should be narrow.

"You can't have a Europe where every member state just opts out of whatever it likes".

A British spokesman, asked about the opt-out possibility, said: "This is all up for discussion at the June European Council. We're not going to get drawn into speculations or give a running commentary on discussions"

An EU diplomat said that no offer had yet been made, but if it was then "Britain would have to give it serious consideration".