Barroso off to Spain to sell constitution

By Martin Banks

Date: 03/02/05

SENIOR members of the European Commission will be turning out in force in the run-up to the first referendum on the EU constitution, to be held by Spain on 20 February.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso and three commissioners have been invited by the Spanish government to address events in Madrid on the constitution.

Barroso will be joined by Vice-President Margot Wallström, commissioner for communication strategy, Louis Michel, commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, and Joaquín Almunia, the Spanish commissioner for economic and monetary affairs.

Barroso, Michel and Almunia will be in the Spanish capital on Monday (7 February). Wallström's visit is scheduled for 9-11 February.

They will address debates on the treaty and meet representatives of civil society and regional authorities as well as government ministers and parliamentarians.

Wallström said: "I want to explain what this constitution means for citizens in most simple terms: more openness, more democracy and more rights. This is the message I want to take to Spain."

Her spokesman stressed that the purpose of the visit was not to "interfere in domestic politics" but to explain the benefits of the constitution.

He said: "There is a need for that as last week's Eurobarometer survey on the constitution shows: there is a high level of indecision and knowledge of the text is far from complete.

"The Commission's role is to provide information and, if similar requests are received from other member states, we may repeat the exercise."

The survey revealed that one-third of the 25,000 polled in November had never heard of the treaty. Only 11% claimed to know its contents.

The Commission fears that levels of ignorance could presage a low turnout in the member states holding referenda.

UK Socialist MEP Richard Corbett, the European Parliament's co-rapporteur on the constitution, said the survey highlighted the need for a major awareness-raising campaign.

"I call on governments, NGOs and institutions to mount an information campaign. In order to have a successful campaign for the 'Yes', the level of information has clearly got to be improved."

Slovenia this week became the third country to approve the treaty when the country's members of parliament supported the text by 79 votes to four. Hungary and Lithuania approved it last year.

Spain will be the first country to hold a referendum followed by Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the UK and maybe Portugal and the Czech Republic. A 'No' vote could stop the treaty in its tracks.

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has said he wants to set a positive example for other member states by approving the constitution. There is no significant opposition to the treaty in Spain: the two main centre-left and centre-right parties are in favour with only the United Left party campaigning for a 'No' vote with the slogan "Europe, Yes - but not this way".

A referendum is to be held in France this summer after the lower house of parliament amended the country's constitution. The change must be approved by the Senate before being submitted for final approval to both chambers meeting in congress, in March or April.

UK premier Tony Blair was this week considering delaying a referendum on the treaty until September 2006 to gain more time to secure a 'Yes' vote.

Preview of a visit by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and three Commissioners to Spain. The EU officials were invited by the Spanish government to address events in Madrid ahead of the country's referendum on the Constitutional Treaty for Europe, to be held on 20 February 2005.