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		The EU Constitution - what if we vote NO Lincolnshire Echo - June 6 2003 The up-coming EU Constitution gives us a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to resolve our relationship with the EU in a radical way. Tony Blair and his government are saying that they will never give the British people the right to vote in a referendum on the proposed EU Constitution. They say it is just "a tidying-up of the treaties" with no great constitutional effect. They are trying, deliberately, to deceive us. The Constitution turns the EU on its head. At the moment, legitimacy remains with the member-states, who agree for certain purposes to exercise some of their powers together. Under the Constitution, the EU itself becomes the source of legitimacy, and the member-states can exercise authority (in most policy areas) only with the EU's say-so. The Constitution formally recognises the supremacy of EU law. It will almost certainly give the EU control over foreign affairs and defence, tax, home affairs and justice, immigration and asylum. All these areas will be decided by majority voting, so the British people and the British government will lose their veto, and be over-ruled. Most people (except the government) can see this very clearly, which is why Conservatives, and large sections of the media, are campaigning for a referendum. And many federalists in Brussels are also calling for referenda, because even they can see that their new Europe will have no legitimacy without public support. As Inigo Mendes de Vigo, a Spanish MEP on the Convention, said, "Some fear the Constitution will not be accepted. But isn't it an even bigger failure to know that your people would have rejected it if you had asked them to vote?". So let's assume that we will get a referendum. We will know pretty clearly what accepting the Constitution will mean. But the big question remains, what will happen if we vote NO? The pro-EU federalists will tell us that Britain would be "isolated" and "excluded", that trade and jobs would be lost, that Britain would disappear down the plug-hole of history. This of course is nonsense. In fact, a country rejecting the Constitution will be in a rather strong position. This gets a bit complicated and technical, but please stick with it because it's important. Under Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union, amendments of the existing treaties require unanimity of all member states. And adoption of the Constitution requires the existing treaties to be substantially amended. So Britain (like other member states) will have a veto on the adoption of the Constitution. The draft Constitution recognises this in Article G. This says that if, after two years, any member state has not ratified, the Constitution goes back to the European Council -- where again, each member-state has a veto. So a member state which chooses not to ratify the treaty has a very strong position to negotiate a new "associate membership", which could give us the free trade area we thought we were voting for in 1975, without the loss of democratic control, and the stifling regulation, of the EU. It is important to note that while a state which signed up to the Constitution can in theory leave later on, it has far less bargaining power at that stage than during the earlier ratification stage. A state choosing to leave later on must either get its terms agreed by the other states and the parliament, or after two years it simply falls out of the system without any new status necessarily being agreed (Article 46 of the Constitution). The conclusion is clear: the EU Constitution proposal gives Britain a unique opportunity to restructure its relationship with the EU, once and for all, on hugely advantageous terms. We must not miss it.