If the President of the European Commission wished to avoid being misunderstood he should be very careful of the language he used when commenting on the mechanism he felt to be appropriate in seeking approval for the proposed EU Constitutional Treaty.

This was stated by Marian Harkin TD, MEP when she contended that any attempt to by-pass EU citizens or National parliaments in relation to legislation or constitutional issues would serve to make it very difficult to develop a new and necessary structure for governing the European Union.

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg Deputy Harkin said that she wished to link two issues impinging on the draft constitution.  Firstly the reported comments of President Barroso that countries might avoid referenda contrasted with Commissioner Wallstrom’s Plan D for democracy, dialogue and debate with citizens.  “On the one hand we want to dialogue, discuss and debate with citizens – on the other we question whether we trust them to express their views by voting in a referendum – mixed messages surely”, she said.

The linked issue she referred to was the bill discussed in the Dail which aimed to give sweeping and retrospective powers to Ministers to create indictable and summary offences in order to comply with EU Legislation.  This would mean by-passing the Irish Parliament and this, taken in conjunction with Mr. Barroso’s views, meant by-passing citizens on the one hand and by-passing a national parliament on the other, she said.  “As a committed European these are very worrying times for the European Union”, Marian Harkin TD, MEP concluded.