Brussels, 17/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Greens at the European Parliament have written an open letter to Foreign Ministers and Heads of State and Government with a view to the EU Foreign Ministers' discussion on the European Constitution in Brussels, on Monday. The letter proposes that the future Constitution be ratified during a single Europe-wide referendum (see above). Co-presidents of the Greens/EFA Group Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni, Vice-President Pierre Jonckheer and Austrian Green member and former Convention Member Johannes Voggenhuber say in their open letter that: "Referendums are the right mechanisms for the adoption of constitutions. However, national referendums include a danger that votes are made not on the issue of the constitution itself, but on the governments of the day and on domestic issues. Out of pragmatic political realism, we therefore propose that the Inter-Governmental Conference decides that ratification of the constitution be made through a Europe-wide referendum". Such a referendum "would facilitate genuine debate about Europe", MEPs say. The also propose that the Constitution be considered as adopted if it is approved by over half the Union population and at least three thirds of Member Sates. The countries that do not reach a majority for the Constitution "should, after a certain period of time, carry out a further vote to see whether they want to stay in this Union with this Constitution or leave it".
"The first of May was a historic date - the date on which the unification of Europe was accomplished", the letter states. It goes on: "We Greens hope that the European Summit taking place 16-17 June will also find a place in the history books, namely as the day on which the European Heads of State and Government reached agreement on a European Constitution".