By Peggy Corlin - 3rd August 2006
Belgian centre-right MEP Jean-Luc Dehaene has announced he will quit the European stage after the Belgian elections in October.
Dehaene, a former vice-president of the EU convention, which draft the controversial constitution, said he plans to devote himself to local politics after the municipal elections on October 8.
The Belgian appears to have lost faith in the EU since the rejection of the constitution by France and the Netherlands last year.
“I do not want to commit myself to technical dossiers any more, and I feel that I have no leverage on things, it just does not suit me,” Dehaene told the Flemish newspaper De Morgen.
“Municipal elections are my priority; at least at this level you can tackle, realise things.”
The Flemish MEP has admitted being “bored” in his European parliamentary work.
The former Belgian prime minister played a major part in the drafting of the constitutional treaty and was perceived as a leader able to resuscitate the moribund text.
But Dehaene confessed to De Morgen, that he could not single out a clear reason for the rejection of the constitution.
The MEP had supported those governments that opted for parliamentary ratification of the treaty, arguing that referenda would end up being hijacked by domestic political issues.
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