Ian Black in BrusselsOctober 29, 2002
The former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing ran into immediate British opposition to some of his key ideas when he unveiled a carefully-balanced draft for a European Union constitution yesterday.
Senior government sources insisted that there was "not a cat in hell's chance" that the union could be renamed the United States of Europe or United Europe: two of the suggestions in the document.
Mr Giscard began the final phase of the convention on the EU's future by presenting his document after months of heated discussion about how to run an enlarged union of 25 or more members from 2004.
Tony Blair gave a guarded welcome to the blueprint in a Commons statement devoted to last week's Brussels summit spat with Jacques Chirac, the current French president, about the reform of the common agricultural policy.
Mr Giscard's draft proposals, the prime minister said, clearly emphasising the positive, made it clear that "Europe should cooperate as a union of European states, not a federal superstate".
But government sources were adamant that there were "red lines" in the document that Britain found unacceptable, especially what the EU should be called in 2004.
Article one says it could be called the European Community, the European Union, United Europe (Mr Giscard's favourite) or the United States of Europe.
Britain's response was swift and blunt. "There is not a cat in hell's chance of it being called the United States of Europe," a senior official said. "If anything, it will be called the European Union."
The convention, which is preparing the most ambitious reorganisation the union has ever undergone, has 105 representatives of the 15 current member states, the 13 candidate countries and the European and national parliaments.
Its brief is to make the union's unwieldy and outdated structures work better and to try to bridge the often yawning gap between disenchanted citizens and remote institutions, partly by explaining precisely the complex division of powers between the union and its members.
British officials gave a warm welcome to the proposed article eight, which makes clear the primacy of the nation state. "Any competence not conferred on the union by the constitution rests with the member states," it says.
Mr Giscard's text is a skeleton, suggesting only brief chapter headings for the constitutional treaty, but it nevertheless gives a clear sense of the direction he is likely to take when the final version is published next summer.
It contains something for almost everyone. Article one, for example, describes "a union of European states which, while retaining their national identities, closely coordinate their policies at the European level, and administer certain common competences on a federal basis".
Unsurprisingly, the draft attracted praise and condemnation from across the political spectrum. David Heathcoat-Amory, a Tory Eurosceptic and convention delegate, said the draft would endow the EU with "all the attributes of a state", and condemned what he called a "federal advance".
But Andrew Duff, the British chairman of the convention's Liberal Democrat caucus, was jubilant. "It allows for a radical refoundation of the EU along explicitly federalist lines," he said.
Another key point is that that the constitution should include the EU's charter of fundamental rights, to give a moral dimension to the union and underline that the project is about more than just a single market and currency.
Britain has in the past fiercely opposed this, on the grounds that it might anchor new social rights in EU law, but government sources said it might now be acceptable.
The draft also suggests a way for countries to leave the EU, and the idea of a congress, including MEPs and members of national parliaments, to oversee its strategic direction.
The text refers to the term of office and appointment procedures for a president for the European council. This proposal is strongly backed by Britain, France and Spain, but opposed by smaller states which fear a loss of influence.
Mr Giscard said last week that there was a "very broad consensus" for having a European president and ending the current practice of a six-month rotating presidency.
Some of the main points
Values and objectives: The draft constitution sets out the foundation stones of the EU: "human dignity, fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law, tolerance, etc." Its aims include promoting social cohesion, strengthening economic and monetary union, and high employment.
Name: The European Union, the European Community, United States of Europe or United Europe. Membership would be open to 'all European states which share the same values'.
Citizenship: It establishes and defines union citizenship, giving citizens of member states dual citizenship.
Powers and competences: The constitution will define the powers of the EU's main bodies: the supranational European commission, the directly elected European parliament and the European council. It lists areas of union competence and those shared with the states.
Withdrawal: The document will establish the procedure for leaving the club. Article 45 establishes the procedure for the suspension of a member state which violates its principles and values.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,821228,00.html
