mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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 Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 7:29 am Post subject: Luxembourg approves EU constitution |
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LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Luxembourgers approved the European Union's troubled constitution in a referendum on Sunday, with most of the votes counted, averting the threat of Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker's resignation.
Voters in the duchy of 465,000 people that houses several key EU institutions, backed the charter by 56.45 percent to 43.55 percent, results from 93.5 percent of the constituencies showed.
The result, if confirmed by official figures, is unlikely to revive the charter, designed to make EU decision-making more efficient after the bloc's enlargement last year, after it was rejected in French and Dutch referenda.
But it will allow veteran EU leader Juncker to keep his jobs of prime minister, finance minister and chairman of euro group of 12 nations sharing the euro currency, while strengthening his already considerable clout in the 25-nation EU.
Juncker, 50, had decided to go on with the referendum and kept his promise to quit if the constitution was rejected, although the June EU summit agreed on a long period of reflection on the constitution after the two failed referendums.
The summit's decision has prompted the majority of EU members yet to ratify the treaty to postpone or suspend the process. The charter has been ratified by 12 countries, the latest being Malta.
Juncker said last week that Luxembourg's "Yes" would offer a glimmer of hope for the constitution despite its rejection in France and the Netherlands, but most politicians and analysts believe the charter is already dead.
"You cannot have the constitution without France," said Daniel Gros, director of the Center for European Policy Studies, a Brussels-based think tank.
The charter cannot go ahead unless it is ratified by all 25 member states, either in a referendum or parliamentary vote. |
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