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Agreement near on eu constitution { June 13 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/06/13/eu.constitution/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/06/13/eu.constitution/
Agreement near on EU constitution
Friday, June 13, 2003 Posted: 6:52 AM EDT (1052 GMT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A forum drawing up a constitution for the European Union began its final session with signs that delegates would rally behind a draft text to be presented to EU leaders at a summit in Greece next week.
The sweeping constitutional changes include a permanent president, joint foreign policy and a legally binding charter of rights.
Nevertheless a majority of nations participating in the Convention on the Future of Europe -- 18 out of 28 -- signaled they would fight in negotiations later this year to preserve rules that give small states voting power disproportionate to their population size.
"The time has come for us to pronounce on this document so that on June 20, when I present this to the Council (summit of European leaders), I can say that it stands as a foundation of the future treaty embodying the European constitution," Convention president Valery Giscard d'Estaing told the 105 delegates Friday.
Speakers representing EU governments, national parliaments, the European Parliament and the European Commission all broadly endorsed the outcome, while hinting at lingering differences.
Key changes would include the appointment of a long-term president of the European Council for up to five years, replacing the current rotating presidency, under which each member state takes the helm for six months.
The draft also proposes an EU foreign minister and a slimmed-down European Commission of 15 full members, based on the principle of strict rotation to ensure equality of all states. The Commission is the EU's executive body.
After the summit at Thessaloniki, Greece, on June 20-21, the Convention will still have to fine-tune part of the constitution dealing with EU policies. An Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) due to start in October will have the final say on the whole text.
Ten mostly ex-communist states are due to join the EU's current 15 on May 1, 2004, with more set to follow.
Some delegates criticized the failure of the draft text to abolish member states' right of veto in the sensitive areas of foreign policy and taxation.
"With 25 members, the EU will have its hands tied in representing our common interests in the world (by retaining the veto)," Elmar Brok, a senior European Parliament member, told Reuters.
But the draft is likely to extend decision-making by majority vote to many new areas, notably in justice and home affairs.
Giscard stands firm
Giscard was sticking to his guns.
"Foreign policy is not going to come into the qualified majority voting area. Imagine what would have happened on Iraq, this would have ripped Europe asunder," he said, referring to the deep divisions triggered by this year's Iraq crisis.
The former French president made no comment on a surprise letter signed by 18 of the 28 governments taking part in the Convention on Thursday that urged the retention of the complex voting rules contained in the EU's Nice Treaty, now in force.
Under Giscard's draft, an EU decision would go through if supported by at least half of member states representing 60 percent of the EU's total population.
Spain, Poland and many small countries prefer the voting weights they won in the Nice Treaty.
That treaty gave Poland and Spain 27 votes each, only two fewer than Germany, which has more than twice their population. France, Britain and Italy also have 29 votes each.
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