Prime Minister Vanhanen unimpressed by proposal for scaled-back EU constitution

Matti Vanhanen

Liisa Jaakonsaari

Jari Vilén

Heidi Hautala

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Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) is not enthusiastic about a proposal by leaders of large European Union member states to revise the proposed European Union constitution by scaling it back.
      Vanhanen said on Wednesday that Finland’s starting point is that the constitution should contain both rules on the general level, as well as rules on details.
      A number of EU leaders, including Romano Prodi, the winner of the recent Italian elections, France’s Interior Minister and the country’s possible future President Nicolas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have all come out in favour of trimming back the constitution to make it more acceptable for the people.
      Vanhanen noted that there have been previous proposals for changes, such as splitting the treaty into two parts.
     
Also taking a somewhat dim view of the proposal is Liisa Jaakonsaari (SDP), the chair of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs committee. She is concerned that a trimmed version of the constitution could be even more difficult to understand.
      On Friday, the Foreign Affairs Committee will start processing a government report on the constitution. Previously, the Grand Committee endorsed a call for Finnish ratification of the proposed treaty as it now stands.
      Jaakonsaari and Grand Committee chair Jari Vilén (Nat. Coalition) agree that the calls by the large member states do not affect Finland’s ratification schedule.
     
Vilén nevertheless is in favour of scaling back the constitution. He also agrees with EU decision-makers in many countries that the name of the document should be changed from that of "constitution" to the less grandiose "basic treaty".
      "The EU also does not need to have symbols, a national anthem, a flag, or a motto in its basic treaty", Vilén says.
      According to Vilén, a new version could eventually be passed by a simple majority, while now ratification requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
      There have been suggestions from France and The Netherlands that the new treaty could be approved in Parliament without a referendum.
      Grand Committee member Heidi Hautala (Green) says that such a move would only deepen the chasm between the EU elite and the citizens. Hautala is in favour of trimming back the treaty. She says that such a move was to have been expected for a long time.
      In her view, a new referendum should be held in all member states in connection with the elections for the European Parliament in 2009.
      In Hautala’s view, the issues addressed in the third section of the constitution should be regulated at a lower level. The first section of the treaty regulates the jurisdiction and bodies of the European Union, and the second part defines the fundamental rights of citizens. The third part defines practical cooperation of the EU.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Grand Committee members favour Finnish ratification of EU constitution (7.4.2006)
  Finnish Parliament takes positive view of EU constitution treaty (30.11.2005)
  Finnish Parliament takes positive view of EU constitution treaty (30.11.2005)

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