"The vote was predictable, although President Jacques Chirac made an extraordinary effort to get it positive. The result is creating a political problem at the EU level and is delaying the institutional evolution of the EU, especially if the Netherlands also gives a negative vote. We can draw a conclusion out of this negative result of the vote: without the involvement and the awareness raising of its people of the individual and global perspectives, the EU construction is fated to failure ", President Traian Basescu says. He appreciates that the EU citizens must be kept informed and that they need to get a clear view of the European political projects, as it is only this way Member States citizens are willing to support these projects. As far as Romania is concerned, the chief of State states that, categorically, the failure of the French referendum and, possibly, of the Dutch one, do not have any influence on the Romania's accession time, considering that all the 25 Member States signed the Accession Treaty on 25 April. In President Basescu's opinion, Romania's accession to the EU depends on the people's capacity to associate themselves with the objectives of the integration into EU, which means that Romania will need to fulfill all the commitments assumed during the negotiations. "The Government alone cannot reach the objective of Romania's membership to the EU", Basescu says. He also adds that "if we go in the street and we say "no" when there are price increases at the electrical power, according to the obligations assumed, well, this will be a lost objective; if we say "no" again when the subvention in the mining sector is cut off, then it's another lost objective; if the restructuring of the iron smelting generates another "no" from the population; or if when the State authorities try to eliminate the big corruption, political parties, media the business community are opposing those measures, by spoiling and intimidating the actions of the State's legal institutions, well, then the EU membership will definitely remain only a desiderate and not a real aim. The Chief of State shows that it is for sure the vote regarding the EU Constitution does not have any influence on the application by both sides - Romania and the 25 Member States - of Romania's Accession Treaty.

Anca HRIBAN