Frattini: Frans 'nee' tegen Grondwet maakt nieuwe onderhandelingen noodzakelijk (en)

French rejection of the European Constitution in next month's referendum would mean that the European debate would have to be re-opened, EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini i has said.

In an interview with Le Figaro, Mr Frattini said that a French No would be "much more serious" than a British No as it would result in the European integration process being stopped for 18 months or more.

According to the Commissioner, a refusal by France would make it impossible to continue to speak of a Constitution or a constitutional treaty, the debate would have to be re-opened and widened to include, particularly, national parliaments.

Mr Frattini said it is not clear what form the debate would take - whether there would be another convention, similar to the one that drew up the Constitution, or whether there would just be negotiations between the member states.

"But if a country like France says no, it is not going to be made to vote a second time. That's impossible".

"So it would be necessary to ask and question oneself: what kind of Europe do we want. Just a single market? A common security and defence space? Or something else again".

Mr Frattini, who is also a vice-president of the commission, believes that even if France votes against the Constitution on 29 May, other countries planning to have a referendum should still go ahead.

Dismissal

However, his comments about renegotiations of the Constitution have been dismissed by Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the current head of the EU.

"There will be no renegotiating of the treaty if a country says no," said Mr Juncker according to the Guardian.

"We will pursue the ratification process, although it is true that ratifications following a 'no' from one member state would become increasingly difficult."

"Mr Frattini was speaking on behalf of the European commission, not member states," Mr Juncker said.

"At the end of the whole process, we will see whether one, two or three countries have said no. A mechanism was established ... to respond to that situation. We have said that if several member states fail to ratify the constitution, the European council would decide how to respond".