Convention on the Future of Europe: Draft of Articles 1 to 16 of ‘EU Constitution’ unveiled, February 2003

A draft of the first sixteen articles of a possible future EU Constitutional Treaty were unveiled by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the Convention on the Future of Europe, on 6 January 2003, immediately eliciting different reactions from across the European Union.

The first sixteen articles, out of an eventual fifty, deal with the aims, powers and values of the European Union. Under the proposed 'EU constitution' the Union would have the competence to co-ordinate Member States' economic policies (Art.13) as well as defining and implementing a common foreign and security policy (Art. 14), including the progressive framing of a common defence policy. Areas such as the internal market, immigration, agriculture, transport, energy and the environment would continue to be 'shared competencies' whereby Member States will only be entitled to adopt legally binding acts in addition to those adopted by the EU. The Member States would retain the power to legislate in fields such as employment, culture, sport and education although the EU may take 'co-ordinating, complementary or supporting action'.

It is the inclusion of the word 'federal' in the very first article of the draft constitutional treaty that seems to have sparked the most debate, particularly in the traditionally Eurosceptic United Kingdom. Peter Hain, former UK Minster for Europe and the UK's lead representative in the convention negotiations reportedly told the BBC,

'This does not reflect the consensus of people on the convention. There is absolutely no chance of a Brussels federal superstate being erected on the back of this'.

Mr. Hain emphasised that this is only a 'draft ' and said that the UK would be able to secure its position as negotiations continue. However, other UK politicians have voiced their strong opposition to the proposals. Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram called the draft 'a blueprint for a federal European states' and added,

This constitution sets out a European Union that takes even more powers from its Member States and is still more centralised and distant from its peoples.'

UK Conservative MEP, David Heathcoat-Amory, also suggested that the articles went too far and 'by selectively using only the conclusions from the working groups which suit their purpose, Giscard d'Estaing and his presidium had presented the first chapters of a fully-fledged constitution'.

The response elsewhere in the European Union appears to have been more moderate. France said that it would reflect on the draft while the German government said it was 'relatively satisfied' with the division of powers in the Union. Even Denmark, traditionally one of the EU's more skeptical nations, said the articles were 'a rather good basis' for setting out the division of labour between Member States and the EU.

The release of the draft sixteen articles follows on from the publication of a draft constitutional treaty in October 2002, which gave a broad outline of a vision of the future architecture of the European Union. The Convention, which approaches its first birthday on 28 February 2003, has been tasked with finding a way to close the growing gap between the European Union and its citizens as well as improving the efficiency of the policy making process and the institutions before the next enlargement takes place in 2004.

With the Convention under increasing pressure to produce a final draft constitution for the European Council in Thessalonkiki in Greece in June 2003, convention delegates have just eight days to submit their comments before the proposals are debated at the plenary session in February 2003. Work must then concentrate on defeating the other 34 articles. While many EU officials are hoping that the new constitution could be finally approved under the Italian Presidency at the Rome Summit in December 2003, in time for the new enlarged Union in 2004, such a tight schedule is looking increasingly unrealistic.

Links:
Convention on the Future of Europe:
	Homepage
	Draft Articles 1 to 16 of the Constitutional Treaty
	Preliminary Draft Constitutional Treaty
BBC News Online:
	07.02.03:	Anger over federal EU plan
	06.02.03:	God missing from EU Constitution
European Sources Online: Financial Times:
	07.02.03:	First draft of EU's new constitution, rejected by Britain
	07.02.03:	Giscard playing risky game with EU constitution
Centre for European Policy Studies:
	Homepage
European Sources Online: In Focus
	The Convention on the Future of Europe, March 2002
	Convention on the Future of Europe: Draft 'EU Constitution' unveiled, October 2002
	What should 'Europe' be called?, October 2002

Helen Bower

Compiled: Friday, 7 February 2003

A draft of the first sixteen articles of a possible future EU Constitutional Treaty were unveiled by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the Convention on the Future of Europe, on 6 January 2003.