Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

The constitutional treaty as signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 by representatives of the EU member states

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. It was signed in 2004 by representatives of the member states of the Union but was subject to ratification by all member states, two of which subsequently rejected it in referenda. Its main aims were to replace the overlapping set of existing treaties (see Treaties of the European Union) that comprise the Union's current constitution, to codify uniform human rights throughout the EU, and to streamline decision-making in what is now a 25-member organisation.

The TCE was signed by representatives of the member states on October 29, 2004, and was in the process of ratification by the member states until, in 2005, French (May 29) and Dutch (June 1) voters rejected the treaty in referenda. The failure of the constitution to win popular support in these countries caused other countries to postpone or halt their ratification procedures, and the Constitution now has a highly uncertain future. Had it been ratified, the treaty would have come into force on November 1, 2006. As of May 2006, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain had ratified the constitutional treaty.

A commemorative Italian euro coin depicting Europa holding a pen over the text of the Constitution was issued on the first anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.

History

"Family photo" of European leaders at the signing of the constitutional treaty in Rome; the classical Latin inscription 'Europææ rei publicae status' translates as 'Constitution of the European commonwealth' (i.e. Union)

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Main article: History of the European Constitution

Drafting

The TCE took as its starting point the codification of the EU's two primary existing treaties, the Treaty of Rome of 1957 and the Maastricht treaty of 1992, as modified by the treaties of Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2001). The current debate on the future of Europe is often said to have begun with a speech made by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in Berlin in 2000 [1], calling for a debate on the finality of European integration.

The process started following the Laeken declaration in December 2001, when the European Convention was established to produce a draft of the Constitution, headed by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Giscard d'Estaing told the convention members that their countrymen would one day "build statues of you on horseback in the villages you all come from", a comment which provoked widespread derision, particularly when the unpopularity of the draft in Giscard's own country became clear. The "Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe" was published in July 2003. After protracted negotiations during which disputes arose over the proposed framework for qualified majority voting, the final text of the TCE was settled in June 2004.

Ratification

It was initially expected that almost all member states would ratify the TCE by a parliamentary or other high political process, which would be quite straightforward, given the support of all ruling governments. Indeed, the number of EU countries that approved the treaty by a parliamentary vote now forms a majority. However, unanimity is required before the TCE can come into force.

The first country to attempt a test of public opinion in a popular referendum was Spain and at that stage the campaign was framed simply as one of support for the European project, without much controversy about the particular form or content of the TCE. The TCE was approved in the referendum vote.

In the United Kingdom, however, Prime Minister Tony Blair unexpectedly promised a referendum in order to undercut opposition from the Conservative and UK Independence parties and to avoid division amongst his own supporters. It was widely recognised that the outcome of a United Kingdom referendum was likely to be a no vote. Also, the promise of a British referendum put pressure on French President Jacques Chirac, who also then promised a referendum in France.

Post-rejection

The rejection of the constitution in the referenda in France and the Netherlands, made the TCE's future and the implementation of its provisions highly uncertain, provoking a crisis of confidence in the project which has resulted, at least initially, in a degree of strategic paralysis. However, despite the enlargement of the Union to 25 states, it has continued to function without the TCE, the reforms agreed in the Treaty of Nice being particularly important in this respect. A long-planned referendum in Luxembourg went ahead after the defeats in the Netherlands and France, but even there the majority in favour of TCE was unexpectedly narrow. No other country has pursued plans for a referendum, including the United Kingdom, it being considered increasingly unlikely that such referenda could secure support for the TCE in the present political climate.

In France, rejection was considered a humiliation for president Jacques Chirac. The TCE was rejected both by right-wing proponents of national sovereignty, such as Charles Pasqua and Philippe de Villiers, and by the anti-globalization movement, gathered around Socialist Party MP Laurent Fabius, the Greens, the Communist Party, the Revolutionary Communist League and the Workers' Struggle party. The Socialist party split itself between Laurent Fabius and François Hollande.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair initially supported the TCE and said he would campaign for its ratification in any British referendum. But after its rejection by the voters of France and the Netherlands, he complained in a speech in Oxford in February 2006 that "We locked ourselves in a room at the top of the tower and debated things no ordinary citizen could understand. And yet I remind you the Constitution was launched under the title of 'Bringing Europe closer to its citizens'". He went on: "The evening of the French result, I remember being in Italy with friends, and someone saying, in despair at the vote: 'What's wrong with them?', meaning those who voted 'no'. I said, 'I'm afraid the question is: 'What's wrong with us?', meaning 'us' the collective political leadership of Europe."

Debate about future possibilities for the Constitution

The TCE's rejection by France and the Netherlands sent shock waves through the European establishment since these countries had been regarded as committed members of the European project. The failure of the TCE to win popular support in those countries forced a re-examination of the constitutional question.

Four options present themselves. One is to do nothing for the time being in order to allow the dust to settle: this seems to be the position favoured by the United Kingdom and Germany. A second is to attempt to persuade opponents to accept the TCE in its existing, or substantially in its existing form: this appeared to be the ambition of Austria during its presidency of the Union, but it was persuaded that this was unrealistic. Another is to re-draft the TCE comprehensively so as to make it more palatable: however, there presently appears to be no desire in any country to start from scratch. Finally, French president Jacques Chirac has proposed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to "cut it piece by piece", in other words, to bring in parts only of the existing draft, so as to make the document more digestible and the process less controversial, but Merkel apparently thought it better to wait until 2007. In June 2006, Italian leader Romano Prodi said that he believed the treaty would be significantly revised, but that it should not take place until after the French presidential election, 2007