By Bruno Waterfield - 9th July 2005
The EU constitution lives after a positive vote in Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted.
Luxembourg’s 450,000 citizens, the EU’s second smallest country after Malta, strongly supported the constitution by 56.5 per cent to 43.5 per cent.
The result follows referendum rejections in France and the Netherlands, a crisis that prompted EU leaders to call a temporary halt to other votes in Europe.
Juncker, the EU’s longest serving prime minister, ignored most other European countries to press on with a poll in the europhile ‘Grand Duchy’.
“If Luxembourg had voted no, it would have been the final shot in the back of the head to the constitution. As Luxembourg said yes, the process can go forward. We're still in a crisis, but not so bad,” he said.
“The message that has come out and which is addressed to Europe and the world is that the constitution is not dead after the votes in France and the Netherlands.”
Juncker’s jubilation – he threatened to resign if voters rejected the constitution – may not be mirrored in other EU capitals.
Luxembourg is the 13th country to ratify the EU constitution, the second to do so after a referendum.
But the result is unlikely to see votes revived in the UK, Denmark, Portugal, Poland, Ireland or the Czech Republic.
Luxembourg’s 218,000 registered voters represent under 0.05 per cent of the Europe’s citizens and host a range of EU institutions.
The tiny country also receives five times more EU cash than any other European country – an annual prize of €1700 per capita.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso gave a more lukewarm response to Luxembourg’s lifeline to the constitution.
“The future of the constitution is unsure following the ‘no’ in France and the Netherlands,” he said in a statement.
Welcoming the vote, Barroso stressed that Luxembourg’s ‘jo’ would be merely part of a wide-ranging European debate to “reconnect” the EU to citizens.
“The voice of the Luxembourg people and all Europeans who supported the constitutional project must, and will be heard in this debate,” he promised.
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