Brussels, 20/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, The European Policy Centre headed by Stanley Crossick published a draft 77-article European Constitution, that the think tank will discuss in a dialogue with the Vice-President of the European Convention, Giuliano Amato, at the beginning of November. The authors are Franklin Dehousse and Wouter Coussens, director and researcher of the Belgian Institute of International Relations. Mr. Dehousse comments: "Drafting a Constitution is no picnic. Those embarking on such an experiment must know that it is more like an ocean cruise".
Drafting the text, the authors raised a series of "inevitable" questions that The EPC synthesises by, in particular, answering the question of whether in the future Constitution one needs to: - integrate the Charter: yes, and that will be even more important in the context of the future enlargement; - detail the powers and areas of competence of the Union: no, most constitutions do not do that; - revise the revision clause: yes; - generalise and simplify qualified majority voting: yes; - elect the president of the Commission: yes, as the Union's political importance has grown to such an extent over the past fifteen years that the Commission needs to be given "a form of direct democratic legitimacy"; - provide for a President of the European Council: no, as this would complicate the functioning of the institutions and risk creating conflicts with the Commission and High Representative. The "only serious justification (…) would be the election of such a president; in that case, obviously, the Commission and high representative would be subordinate to such a person"; - reform in depth the foreign policy: yes; - reform the Council presidency system: yes, for example (Article 38) by retaining the rotation for the European Council and the future "legislative Council", but providing for, during a ten-year transition period, the "executive Council" responsible for foreign policy, being chaired by the High Representative, who will be elected by the European Council (the Commission being fully associated in this work); - reduce the number of commissioners and members of Parliament: yes, even if this is not a popular measure; - establish a "Congress of Parliaments": yes and no. The EU hardly needs new institutions, but such a congress could, in a ten-year transition period, elect the president of the Commission and intervene in the review of the Constitution and the treaty annexed.
The draft also provides for the Union's right of secession (Article 72) and the Constitution's taking effect if, having been put to the European Council for ratification, it is backed by three-quarters of Member States representing 75% of the population (Article 76).