Constitution rejection 'would throw EU into crisis'

The EU will be thrown into crisis if the draft of a European constitution is rejected, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned today.

He said that the outcome of the 16-month long negotiations in the 105-member European Convention was “a successful compromise: everybody can live with it and nobody is happy about it.”

“Anyone who opens new negotiations has the obligation to reach a new consensus,” Fischer said in Prague.

The EU nations will hold a conference of national governments in October to launch a review of the draft constitution. That meeting will be crucial, Fischer said, arguing that failing to reach a result there “would mean one of the deepest crises for the EU”.

The constitution must be ratified by parliaments of all member states and by the European Parliament. Supporters hope it will take effect by the end of 2005.

The planned constitution is meant to streamline decision-making in the EU when 10 new countries join the union, which now has 15 members.

The constitution calls for a EU president to replace the current presidency-system, which rotates the position among the 15 members every six months. Small countries oppose such a change, arguing that their interests would be sidelined to the benefit of larger countries.