Foreign Minister Tuomioja regrets result of French EU referendum
PM Vanhanen: Finland to continue ratification process
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja (SDP), said late on Sunday night that it was "regrettable" that French voters decided to vote against the proposed constitution for the European Union.
"The French no vote is a setback for the future of the constitutional treaty, but there is no reason to draw any hasty conclusions on that basis", Tuomioja commented on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) says that Finland will continue the ratification process in spite of the French result.
Tuomioja said that one possible interpretation of the result was that the French may have been voting against such things as Turkish EU membership and the service directive, neither of which "are matters that are in any way dependent on the constitutional treaty".
The Finnish Foreign Minister said that he hopes that the other EU member states would continue the ratification process according to the schedules they have set up.
Prime Minister Vanhanen said that the government would bring a proposal to ratify the constitution before Parliament in the autumn.
Commenting on the French result during a visit to Kuwait, Vanhanen said that he hoped that the other member states would continue the process. He added that the results of the referendum do not have any immediate impact on the activities of the EU, even though it will undoubtedly raise plenty of political speculation.
Vanhanen noted that the percentage of no votes was larger than expected. "The result will certainly cause headaches in France and the entire Union. However, excessive lamentation does not help. The other countries should act as was agreed in the constitution talks", Vanhanen pointed out.
In the autumn of 2006 it will be seen if at least four-fifths of the member states have ratified the treaty. "There will certainly be a situation in which a large number of member states have approved the treaty, and some have not, and new answers will have to be sought for the situation", Vanhanen said.
The decisive moments for the constitution are in 2006, when Finland holds the EU Presidency from July to December. The new situation means that instead of certain choices and decisions required by the constitution, the period of the Finnish Presidency will be devoted to bringing the unfinished process to a close. However, Prime Minister Vanhanen believes that the most difficult problem could prove to be agreeing on EU financing.
Vanhanen does not believe that the French vote will affect the ongoing EU enlargement process.
"We need the Union. The EU’s 25 member states are bound together with so many close ties that continuing cooperation is absolutely necessary. We must find the right means to that end. It could take some time", Prime Minister Vanhanen noted.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 30.5.2005 - TODAY |
 Foreign Minister Tuomioja regrets result of French EU referendum
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