In this extract, Pierre Bernard-Reymond, State Secretary for European Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry from 1979 to 1981, Member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1986 and from 1989 to 1999 and Senator for the Hautes-Alpes département from 2007 to 2014, discusses the principle of referendum and the difficulties in adopting this method for ratifying treaties.

In this extract, Pierre Bernard-Reymond, State Secretary for European Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry from 1979 to 1981, Member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1986 and from 1989 to 1999 and Senator for the Hautes-Alpes département from 2007 to 2014, puts forward his views on the future of the European integration process, in particular regarding the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and future enlargements.