Italians up the ante on solving constitutional conundrum

By Martin Banks

Date: 23/10/03

ITALY is determined to conclude discussions on the draft constitutional treaty by the end of the year, its foreign minister said this week.

Speaking in Strasbourg, Franco Frattini said: "For the Italian presidency it is not merely a question of national prestige to ensure that the current negotiations are completed before December. We are faced with a deadline which is in the collective interests of the whole Union and all member states - namely to sign the treaty between 1 May 2004, when ten new members join the Union, and next June's European elections."

Frattini said it would be a "backward step" if any attempt was made to water down proposals hammered out by the European Convention. However, he accepted that vital issues remain unresolved, including the composition of the European Commission, the status of the proposed EU foreign minister and the precise means of calculating qualified majorities in the Council of Ministers.

"The presidency will table a comprehensive proposal in November and this will be based on meeting the needs of all member states as well as accession countries," Frattini told the Parliament's constitutional affairs committee.

European Commission President Romano Prodi told MEPs that "only a few points" in the draft needed changing and that these can be worked out in secondary legislation or in the internal rules of the institutions. Prodi also said it was "vital" that the constitution can be changed in the future. "If it cannot be amended, it will will fall apart at the very first hitch," he added.

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Report of comments by Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Franttini, to the European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee.

http://europarl.europa.eu/committees/afco_home.htm http://europarl.europa.eu/committees/afco_home.htm

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