Strasbourg, 17/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - At a press conference on Tuesday, most of the European Parliament's political groups said they agreed with the structure of the report by Andrew Duff (British Liberal MEP) and Johannes Voggenhuber (Austrian Green), on reflection on the European constitution, although they remain divided on two issues. The two rapporteurs believe that the text of the constitution should be improved (and have come forward with new amendments), but the two shadow rapporteurs, Richard Corbett and Alexander Stubb and their groups (PES and EPP-ED respectively) refuse to comment on such a scenario (see EUROPE 9109). Corbett (UK) and Stubb (Finland) back the text voted upon in the Constitutional Committee and prefer to defend the current wording of the constitution, hoping that circumstances in the outside world will have changed by the end of the reflection period. The idea of a European referendum on the same day in all 25 Member States (an idea the two rapporteurs want to re-table in an amendments) is also a matter of debate, for technical reasons.
Monica Frassoni (Italy), Co-President of the Greens/EFA group, told reporters that the aim was to demonstrate that in the current vacuum and cacophony, something had to be done about the constitution, but she explained that it should be said loud and clear that it is not possible to get citizens to vote on the same text. The President of the ADLE group, Graham Watson, said he supported the report, believing the rapporteurs' suggested timescale was realistic and the ideas set out in the report were necessary for Europe. Hans-Gert Pottering, President of the EPP-EP group, said there was not doubt about the backing the report would receive from the EPP side of his group. Pottering, a CDU MEP, was highly critical of Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot's statement that the constitution was dead and buried (see EUROPE 9107). Pottering said comments like that were 'incompatible' with the reality in a Member State like the Netherlands in Europe and he totally rejected them, adding that he was astounded that such a leading politician could say such things and if this view was repeated, it would cause big problems, including in the EPP-ED group. In response to a question, Pottering hoped to see a more positive approach from the European Commission. Martin Schulz, President of the Socialist group, was at pains to explain that the work on the constitution should not be seen as finished, but reflection should continue on how to proceed with the constitutional process. Francis Wurtz, President of the GUE/NGL group, said the report was undermined by a contradiction because on the one hand it wants to take account of concerns expressed in the French and Dutch 'No' votes on the constitution, while at the same time it foresees the constitution coming into force in 2009…