Brussels, 24/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - “We, as the European Parliament, have the task of explaining the Constitution and the progress it represents”, German Social Democrat Jo Leinen, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, explains in a press release, welcoming the vote by the budgets committee in favour of making EUR 7.6 million available for information actions on the constitutional treaty.
The sum released will be shared between Member States on the basis of several criteria: the holding of a referendum, the population concerned, the size of the European Parliament's office in the Member States as well as its operational character. The countries that do not wish for financial aid of any kind, like the United Kingdom, will not receive any. The information campaign will include posters, the distribution of copies of the constitutional treaty, the organisation of public information seminars, the creation of radio or television broadcasts and workshops for journalists. They will be conducted either autonomously by the European Parliament or in partnership with the national governments, as is the case in Belgium.
The EP has decided to make 80% of the EUR 7.6 million immediately available. The rest is kept in reserve and will be released on the basis of an assessment of actions on the ground. In its resolution on the treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, the Parliament calls in paragraph 10 for everything to be done for informing European citizens, in full clarity and objectivity, on the content of the Constitution.