BRITAIN: Britain would be left on the margins of Europe if it voted No in a referendum on a planned European Union constitution, its architect, the former French president, Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, said yesterday.
"If finally the British said No and the other Europeans said 'We want to go' then they will have to find an accommodation," said Mr Giscard. "It is true in that case Britain will not be in the core of the system, but at the margin," he told BBC radio.
Mr Giscard said a vote against the constitution, which EU leaders hope to agree by June, would leave Britain or any other country "on the edge" of Europe - but not "outside" - as other states pressed ahead with closer integration.
"It will mean they will create a situation in which, not only governments, but the people who want to progress with this functioning of the Union, will have to decide how to progress by themselves," he said.
- (Reuters)
