Frédéric Esposito, professor of law at the University of Geneva (IEUG) is militating in favour of a consultative European referendum that would allow the EU to get out of its crisis. “The EU has to find a solution for the negative votes on revised treaties expressed by Member State populations and parliaments. The blockage brought on by the French and Dutch ‘no’ to the European Constitution has shown this. The problem is that the EU allows the use of referendums in its fringes, but not in the heart of the system. However, the consequences of these national votes directly concern the European integration process as a whole. It is in this context that the idea of a referendum takes on its full meaning. … In order for citizens to get used to consultative referendum procedure on a European level, one might imagine a life-size test with the 2009 European elections on a revised treaty project.” (27/02/2007)
full article (in French)http://www.letemps.ch/template/opinions.asp?page=6&article=201336