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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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 Sun May 29, 2005 4:30 pm French Vote 'Non' on EU Constitution |
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| Quote: | French voters reject EU charter
French voters have rejected the European Union's proposed constitution in Sunday's referendum, President Jacques Chirac has said.
The vote could deal a fatal blow to the constitution, which needs to be ratified by all 25 members states.
Exit polls published just after voting ended put the "No" side at 55%.
Mr Chirac, who had campaigned hard for a "Yes", accepted the voters' "sovereign decision" - but said France would honour its European commitments.
In his short TV address, he added that the rejection created "a difficult context for the defence of our interests in Europe".
The French leader also said he acknowledged that voters had registered their frustrations in the referendum.
He said he would take a decision on the future of his centre-right government "in the coming days".
Referendum season
There were cheers from supporters of the "No" campaign when the exit polls results were announced just after voting ended at 2200 local time (2000 GMT).
Those who rejected the treaty included Communists, various left-wing groups, dissident socialists and far-right parties.
Foreign Minister Michel Barmier said the vote was a "real disappointment" - but urged other EU countries to go ahead with their own ratification process.
So far nine countries have formally endorsed the constitutional treaty.
Eight other national referendums are still to come, including one in the Netherlands on Wednesday, where the "No" side is also leading in the polls.
The constitution was finalised last year after long and difficult negotiations among EU governments.
The treaty includes the union's Charter of Fundamental Rights and establishes a foreign minister.
Member states can ratify the document through a referendum or by parliamentary vote. Germany ratified it on Friday. |
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Sun May 29, 2005 4:34 pm |
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 [edit by moderator] French! Tut Tut Tut!
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Mon May 30, 2005 9:19 am |
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I actually say go them,  Although I don't know what it is fully I am against it.
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Mon May 30, 2005 5:37 pm |
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Yay, awesome possum.
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Mon May 30, 2005 6:02 pm |
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You going to vote against it in a few days?
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Tue May 31, 2005 5:53 am |
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The whole EU thing has completely fallen out of the window... makes me somewhat glad we didn't change to the euro.
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Birdy
Socialist
Joined: 20 Sep 2004
Posts: 13502
Location: Here.
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| Tue May 31, 2005 12:29 pm |
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I've gotta vote too, tomorrow, and I'm gonna vote against it too.
-------signature-------
Nosce te ipsum
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Tue May 31, 2005 7:55 pm |
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| Birdy wrote: | | I've gotta vote too, tomorrow, and I'm gonna vote against it too. |
Good choice. First thing I think I've ever agreed with you on 
The French no-vote surprises me, greatly. I really thought that they would really go for this effort, being all "wordly" as they are.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:02 pm |
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I heard one of the suggested reasons was it was supposed to have had too much imput from the British, who are far less European superstate, lol. Also no one properly knew what it was about, as the document is about 130 pages of fancy language. It was only based on interpretations they made the decission.
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Wed Jun 01, 2005 2:05 pm |
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| Republican_Man wrote: | | Birdy wrote: | | I've gotta vote too, tomorrow, and I'm gonna vote against it too. |
Good choice. First thing I think I've ever agreed with you on
The French no-vote surprises me, greatly. I really thought that they would really go for this effort, being all "wordly" as they are. |
Have you been living in a box? All the French seem to care about is themselves. That's why they voted no. It didn't surprise me at all.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed Jun 01, 2005 7:52 pm |
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| madlilnerd wrote: | | Republican_Man wrote: | | Birdy wrote: | | I've gotta vote too, tomorrow, and I'm gonna vote against it too. |
Good choice. First thing I think I've ever agreed with you on
The French no-vote surprises me, greatly. I really thought that they would really go for this effort, being all "wordly" as they are. |
Have you been living in a box? All the French seem to care about is themselves. That's why they voted no. It didn't surprise me at all. |
Are you sure? I seem to think that Iraq was a situation that contradicts it, and their hope for Un taxes 
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:15 pm |
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| CBC.ca wrote: | Dutch voters reject EU constitution
Last Updated Wed, 01 Jun 2005 19:35:03 EDT
CBC News
Dutch voters have rejected a proposed European Union constitution by a margin of 61.6 to 38.4 per cent, according to Dutch news agency ANP on Wednesday.
It's the second consecutive defeat for the proposed charter. Three days earlier, French voters rejected the constitution that would have created a political and economic entity rivalling the United States.
Calling the results disappointing, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Pieter Balkenede conceded defeat, saying he would respect the will of the Dutch people. The country's parliament will meet Thursday to discuss the results.
The outcome was expected. Most opinion surveys leading up to Wednesday's referendum suggested it would be rejected despite the campaigns of the mainstream Dutch parties, including the government, who advocated a Yes vote in the referendum.
Voter turnout in the nation of 16 million was 62.8 per cent.
* INDEPTH: European Union
While the Dutch result is not legally binding, legislators say they will respect the outcome.
Supporters of the constitution argued it would streamline decision-making in the EU and create a single foreign minister to give Europe more sway in international affairs.
Opponents fear that the Netherlands will be engulfed by a superstate dominated by Germany, France and Britain. They also fear the constitution could end liberal Dutch policies such as tolerating marijuana use, prostitution and euthanasia.
Nine countries have ratified the constitution: Austria, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia by votes of their parliaments; and Spain by a referendum.
The proposed constitution needs support from all 25 nations.
With Sunday's referendum result, France became the first EU member to reject the constitution. About 55 per cent voted against it in a legally binding referendum that saw a turnout of 70 per cent of the country's registered voters.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a strong supporter of the charter, said the French and Dutch votes must be acknowledged.
"The crisis surrounding the ratification of the European constitution must not become Europe's general crisis," said Schroeder.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barros urged European leaders to avoid making hasty decisions until an EU summit in mid-June.
Copyright �2005 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved |
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:47 am |
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I think the european union will only properly work if we all adopt the same language. Negotiations are hard enough without being able to understand each other on top of it. Of course, I'm routing that we all change to English...
We do need to work together more, but I don't think that the EU should have accepted in some of the countries it did... like Turkey. I don't see what adding Turkey in did for the EU.
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:41 am |
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And their human right records...
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Birdy
Socialist
Joined: 20 Sep 2004
Posts: 13502
Location: Here.
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 7:48 am |
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| Republican_Man wrote: | Good choice. First thing I think I've ever agreed with you on
The French no-vote surprises me, greatly. I really thought that they would really go for this effort, being all "wordly" as they are. |
Woooo00000ww...  Really??? Kewl. 
Yeah, it is... Weird.
Yeah? Well, the polls (or how you call it, I don't know) showed, before the election, that there were a lot of people that would vote know. But you never know it untill it's really over.
Yeah... Well, I don't care. I'm happy that France voted against it and Holland did too! Al those things our politician said didn't come true ("there will be another war"  "The economy will fall, things will go really bad" [didn't happen at all]..)
Stupid people. Especially Balkenende. But that's a different discussion!
-------signature-------
Nosce te ipsum
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:17 am |
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France also voted against it because the current government is unpopular, and the government wanted them to vote yes, so naturally, they voted no.
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Birdy
Socialist
Joined: 20 Sep 2004
Posts: 13502
Location: Here.
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:24 am |
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Yeah, and they have the right to. They said in France: if you hold a referendum, it's also a 'beauty-contest' on the current government. There's no way around it! It was also the case here in Holland.
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Nosce te ipsum
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:27 am |
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What's a referendum? I'm not all that great with political terms
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Birdy
Socialist
Joined: 20 Sep 2004
Posts: 13502
Location: Here.
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 10:00 am |
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I'm sorry, didn't know if that word existed in English. It's when the government askes the opinion of the people, by asking them a question and they can vote 'yes' or 'no' or something like that.
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Nosce te ipsum
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 10:05 am |
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It exists, I just had no idea what it meant
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Birdy
Socialist
Joined: 20 Sep 2004
Posts: 13502
Location: Here.
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 10:07 am |
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Allrighty than!
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Nosce te ipsum
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Otter
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 12895
Location: England
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 11:25 am |
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I'm not into polatics but I saw a report from Hollend.. think I saw soulmate standing at the back
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Yeah, We'll Stay Forever This Way..
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Sun Jun 05, 2005 6:10 pm |
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| madlilnerd wrote: | | It exists, I just had no idea what it meant |
Basically they are supposed to have one on introducing the Euro, but it would be a huge vote against so they won't do it, It's pretty much the only reason we don't have it.
The constitution will have to be modified, if it's not totally rewritten (that's if they continue it) as these are 2 of the 6 founding members and so important in the EU.
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