1. The EU bill of rights (Title II of the current treaty). 2. Union membership rules (Title IX of the current treaty, including Article I-60 on Voluntary withdrawal from the Union) 3. The 2009 European Parliament will be a constitutional assembly 4. Referendum rules: The treaty shall be put to a vote by referendum simultaneously in all EU members states. The result of the referendum will be binding if at least 50% of all EU citizens cast a valid vote in it. The treaty shall come into force only if at least 50% of valid votes in a binding referendum support the treaty. In that case, An EU member state shall be considered to have approved the treaty if it is supported by at least 50% of valid votes in that member state, and the number of valid votes in that member state is at least 50% of the eligible voters. An EU member state where the treaty is not approved shall hold a second referendum within 5 years, with the choices being approval of the treaty or withdrawal from the EU according to the provisions of the treaty. A transitory institutional regime shall apply as long as there are any remaining EU Member States which have not approved the treaty and have not yet held a second referendum.
The result of the referendum will be binding if at least 50% of all EU citizens cast a valid vote in it.
The treaty shall come into force only if at least 50% of valid votes in a binding referendum support the treaty. In that case,
I think that a constitutional assembly and a referendum overlap each-other, one renders the other useless. But I think that the idea of a constitutional assembly is much better than having people casting a "Yes" or "No" to a 250+ page document.
The simultaneous election/referendum has been an aspiration for a long time, especially for the European Parliament - this is an important aspect of the European Construction. If one day we manage to have a simultaneous election it'll be a great achievement, and one that would bring the institutions much closer to the citizen.
To this day the simultaneous election has been impossible due to the different holidays in each state, and their individual electoral requirements (for instance in the UK they have to take place in a Thursday). A good idea might be to instate a Day of Europe as a pan-holiday and have the elections on that day. Using the lunar calendar could help, like setting it to say 15 days after Easter.
Coming down to real life, states like Poland would never accept that Ratify or Leave rule, but surely it is a worthy plan. Vencit omnia veritas.
To me, holding the election/referendum over 3 consecutive days (friday to Sunday) depending on the country as happened with the 2004 EP elections is good enough as far as "simultaneous election/referendum" is concerned.
My argument is that if you cannot approve something as simple as my "mini-treaty", there's no point in trying ot approve a "constitution".
But, clearly, even my "mini-treaty" would fail because it includes the bill of rights already. Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
However there is no particular reason for Thursday, beyond people being used to it now. Between 1918 and 1931 other days of the week were used.
If the UK wanted it would be a simple matter to arrange an election for a day other than Thursday
I still have no problem with that, especially for elections to the parliament where the results in one country are unlikely to affect the results in other countries due to the lack of pan-european campaigning. Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
In 2009 it will be the 11th of June, and in 2004 the 19th of June.
Indeed, the European Parliament elections in 2009 will be held between June 11 and June 13. Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
Using the lunar calendar you ensure that your day of choice will be always at the same week-day, like Carnival, Easter and Corpus Christi. Vencit omnia veritas.
What calender does Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus use? (Are there other mainly Orthodox conutries that I have missed?)
