Brussels, 14/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - Among the many amendments introduced by Convention Members to the Draft of Articles 1 - 16 and which have been presented by the European Convention Presidium, are those of MEPs Alain Lamassoure which seek the right of a Member State to leave the Union (according to the UDF MEP, "the notion of the right to secede" should be included in the Constitution, as "a mutually agreed divorce". Mr Lamassoure is also requesting the insertion of Article 1 (B), which affirms that the capitals of the Union are "Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg" and that the "the currency of the Union is the Euro" and that the symbols, the flag, the hymn "The Ode to Joy" and the 9 May as an official holiday are also included in the Constitution (See a Look Behind the News in today's edition).
Mr Lamassoure is proposing to: - in Article 11, replace the term "exclusive competency with "own" competency (the adjective "exclusive" does not exist in the treaties and is "fallacious", as "even for the Customs Union, the means of application are exclusively ...in the hands of Member States"), and that own competencies should be added to the single market, economic and social cohesion policy and financing the Union budget; - in Article 12, ending competencies shared between the internal market and adding forestry, services of general interest and the fight against drugs; - in Article 15, replace the term "supporting areas" with "complementary competencies" and add tourism and cross border cooperation to these competencies.