Andrew Duff calls for European Council and Commission to Campaign for Constituton

3.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 15th Sep 2004

Press Statement: release immediate: Wednesday 15 September 2004

Speaking in the European Parliament today (Wednesday), European Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff called for each member of the European Council to take both collective and individual responsibility for ensuring that the Constitution comes into force.

National leaders must avoid a scramble for the bottom of the list ‑ la fuite en avant ‑ of those who ratify, he said.

"Public opinion will query why our national leaders are frightened of their own shadow on Europe, and fearful of putting the case for the Constitution in a positive and trenchant way that embraces the European dimension of the constitutional decision.

"Other member states would be mad to wait for Britain, which needs time and effort to sort itself out before it will be ready to take the plunge as a modern European place."

Mr Duff, who led the Liberals in the Convention, also called for "a campaigning Commission, not just glossy public relations."

"We need a political Commission, complementing the role of the European Council to give the EU real leadership."

ENDS/...