EU Constitution Discussed in Parliament
Members of the parliamentary commission for constitutional affairs met to discuss the EU constitutional treaty before the National Assembly convenes for a session on 1 February to ratify it.
They shared the opinion that the solutions contained in the constitution are "very favourable" for Slovenia. Repeated talks on its contents, should its ratification fall through due to a negative referendum result in an EU member, would therefore be bad for Slovenia.
This is a reason, the commission agreed, why it is in Slovenia's "political and practical interest" to ratify this document as soon as possible.
Jozef Jerovsek of the coalition Slovenian Democrats (SDS) reiterated that "a referendum is not necessary", and Slovenia should ratify the constitution as soon as possible.
By doing so, the country would give the ratification process in the rest of the EU an impetus.
Moreover, a broad public debate should be held about the document in order to make the general public familiar with it, was another conclusion from debate.
Rudolf Petan of the SDS thought that since the majority of Slovenians know little about the constitution, the parliament should get involved in informing the public about it.
In outlining the contents of the constitution to the commission, government representative Janez Pogorelec brought up the issues of a referendum on its ratification.
Pogorelec stressed that Slovenians said "yes" to the transfer of part of Slovenia's sovereignty onto the EU in a referendum in March 2003. Moreover, the Slovenian constitution was changed to suit such transfer.
However, if there was an initiative for another referendum, it would be good to ponder on whether new powers are being transferred onto the EU, something he believes would be good to be legitimised in referendum.
According to National Assembly advisor Miro Cerar, the issue of adjusting the Slovenian constitution to the European could be raised after the latter is implemented. The target date is 1 November 2006.
He explained that the Slovenian constitution is not in disagreement with the EU's, but "one should now scrutinize the European constitution and see if a gap has occurred, and then decide what to do".
Cerar also criticised the hurry in which "key treaties" are being adopted in Slovenia. He believes that since the authorities enjoy public support for European integration, one should not be too hasty, but take some time to reflect.
"The state must show it has a backbone, servility is not really welcome," he said after the government sent a ratification bill to parliament in early January, hoping the constitution would be ratified by the end of the month.
Members of the commission were also briefed on the role of national parliaments in EU decision-making.
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