World News 09-06-2005 EU Constitution "Not Dead" who: Foreign Secretary Jack Straw what: Refuses to pronounce death sentence on EU Constitution where: House of Commons, LONDON when: Monday snippet: Britain`s foreign secretary Jack Straw stopped short of declaring the EU constitution a hopeless cause this week, despite its rejection by the people of France and the Netherlands last week. "We see no point in proceeding at this moment," Mr Straw told the Commons on Monday, but emphasised that the government reserved the right to set a date for a second reading of the Bill to propose a referendum on the constitution "should circumstances change". Luxembourg`s prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, took this as a signal that the constitution was "not dead", reports The Scotsman`s Nicola Smith from Brussels. "Despite the setbacks suffered over the last few days, the Treaty is still alive," he says. "We welcome the fact that the British government has decided to leave open the possibility of reintroducing a bill providing for a UK referendum at a later stage." The Conservative shadow foreign secretary, Dr Liam Fox, disagreed, says The Guardian. "I may no longer practice medicine," he told the Commons, "but I can tell a corpse when I see one. This constitution is a case for the morgue." "The EU is engaged in a round of political pass-the-parcel, with leaders wanting to avoid stating the obvious," agrees The Times. "The British Government should politely tell Paris and Berlin that the music has stopped." "Mr Blair wants EU leaders to take the blame for killing the treaty at a summit on June 16 at which he will also resist German and French attempts to end our £3billion EU subsidy," says The Sun. "The rebate was first negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 to compensate Britain for receiving less in farm subsidies than countries such as France," explains James Kirkup, The Scotsman`s political correspondent. "Now, the expansion of the EU has led to charges that the payment is no longer justified. The Conservatives say that any move to reduce it would be a betrayal of British interests." [... more]

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