Word: voting
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...what now? The result is unquestionably a crisis for the E.U., which has no obvious way out. The sucker punch of the "no" vote will sap the political will of governments hoping to reform Europe's institutions, said Hugo Brady, from the Centre for European Reform...
...officials. The Union's consensus-based decision-making system requires that all 27-member states approve the treaty, and a veto by one is enough to torpedo it. Ireland was the only member state to submit the long and confusing document to a popular referendum, and the resulting "no" vote, by a decisive margin of 54% to 46%, has created a crsisis for the E.U. as a whole...
...going to be massively difficult," Brady said. "Ireland is the only one of the E.U.'s 27 countries to have a referendum on the treaty, as it is legally obliged to do. But the high turnout, and high 'no' vote, suggest we could not expect another referendum any time soon. At the same time, the overwhelming message from those who voted no was that they did not understand the treaty, and that they thought others would vote...
...burgeoned to 27. Yet decision-making has improved in some cases, as officials and ministers adapt to their new numbers. Indeed, the Czech government, which will take over the E.U. presidency on January 1, 2009, has already prepared a provisional plan on how to deal with a "no" vote by working within the E.U.'s existing structures...
...most officials fear the vote will plunge the E.U. into a period of despondency and inertia. E.U. leaders are due to meet in Brussels on June 19, for a summit which was set to decide on key environmental and energy targets but is instead expected to be overshadowed by a fog of gloom. And unfortunately for the E.U., that looks unlikely to lift any time soon...