The Chairman of the Convention on the Future of Europe was quite right in letting the European Parliament have the first taste of his ideas and ambitions on some of the subjects to be tackled by the Convention. Earlier, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had mainly insisted on the need to listen to the opinions of all the Members before anything else. He obviously felt he had already obtained indications (through a general introductory debate - see our bulletin of 23 March, pp.3-6) allowing him to...