Brussels, 21/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - The British prime minister, Tony Blair, stated in an interview to the BBC on Sunday admitted that the battle for the "yes" of his compatriots to support the constitution would be "hard". Tony Blair told David Frost that, "This is going to be a fascinating battle because it will be a battle between reality and myth". Blair recognised the need to take the time to explain the issue to the British people. These reasons are why the referendum expected next year, will not take place until spring 2006.
The Initiative and Referendum Institute (IRI) Europe is announcing an information service for which the challenge is to tackle the many referendums planned on the Constitution. According to the IRI there will at least be nine: United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and Poland. The IRI also believes that a referendum could take place in seven other countries: France, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The press statement indicates that a debate on a possible referendum is also much alive in Finland, Sweden, Austria, Italy and Germany (but the government there is traditionally hostile to this kind of mass consultation: Editor's note) and Malta. (Site: http://www.iri-europe.org ).