Convention 'reaches agreement'

Friday, 13 June 2003 12:00 AM

It is reported that the European Convention on the Future of Europe has arrived at an agreement on the new constitution.

This week has seen some difficult negotiations take place on the issues that remained unresolved, but it now appears that enough progress has been made for the draft to be presented to national leaders at the Thessaloniki summit next week.

The constitutional debate was launched to ensure that the EU could continue to function after its enlargement to 25 member states, and while it has addressed this issue, it has also looked into the possibility of EU level action being permitted for issues such as immigration.

A number of differences of opinion remain to be resolved, such as the proposal that heads of states could voluntarily pass the EU their authority in foreign affairs or social welfare, which several countries believe should remain subject to a veto.

Likewise a consensus appears to have been reached on creation of an EU president to boost the influence of the Council of Ministers, and the creation of a single foreign policy chief, the various roles of whom are presently split between several commissioners.

The constitution only recently hit the headlines in the UK. Several newspapers started to campaign for a referendum on the whether the Government should adopt it, and the Government quickly declared that no such referendum would be held.

However, the agreement appears to have come after the British people were offered a chance to express their opinions by the tabloid newspaper the 'Daily Mail'. The newspaper is one of those that oppose the new constitution, and organised the privately run ballot to increase pressure on the Government.

With nothing in place to prevent basic electoral abuses such as ballot stuffing, and with reports that some people thought they were voting on the Euro, not the constitution, it is not expected that the Government or Europe will take any notice of the poll.

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