Governance
Agreement on Constitutional Treaty
On the 18th June 2004, the 25 EU leaders finally reached agreement on the new Constitutional Treaty, which will be signed at an official ceremony in Rome on 20 November. Following its signing, EU Member States will have 2 years to ratify the Treaty, and many of them (including the UK) will hold referenda.
Links to the provisional version of the Treaty can be found below:
The Brussels Office has prepared a preliminary report on some of the key elements in the constitutional Treaty. If you would like a copy please click here
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The Convention on the Future of Europe
At the Nice European Council in 2000, European leaders decided that there should be a deeper and wider debate on the future of the European Union (EU).
They then met in Laeken in December 2001 where they issued a Declaration in which they agreed upon the creation of a Convention to bring together the key parties in the debate to consider the main issues concerning the Union’s future development and to identify possible responses.
The Laeken Declaration charged the Convention with drawing up a document that would act as the starting point for discussions in an Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) starting in autumn 2003, where leaders of the EU Member States would take the ultimate decisions.
The main issues the Convention have been discussing are:
- Clarification of the division of responsibilities between the EU and its Member States
- Simplification of the Union’s complicated Treaties
- How to achieve more democracy, transparency and efficiency
- The status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights
- A European Constitution
- The role of national parliaments
The Convention is composed of 105 members drawn from national governments, national parliaments, representatives from the candidate countries, members of the European Parliament and 2 representatives from the European Commission. Andrew Duff, MEP for the East of England, sits on the Convention as a representative from the European Parliament. The Convention is chaired by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, a former French President.
Links for further information
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