Paris, 26/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - The President of the European Convention; Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, told the AFP that he would be proposing the inclusion of a "declaration of European independence" in the future draft European constitution. He said: "we must gradually come to a situation where the main priority is that of Europe. At the moment, the priority of many States remains voicing national positions. The EU must assert itself as an independent political entity in the world of the 21st century. We must find the right formula for European independence". As for CFSP, he suggested starting by seeing how we can "improve effective application of treaties" (in the Iraqi crisis, he reiterated, they were not applied) and "in a second phase, proposing a longer-term perspective by defining the implementation of a common foreign policy". Reminding the Press that he had asked the European Commission to sound out Europeans on their views on common foreign and security policies, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing added: "if there is a high level of demand in these two fields, we should show greater innovation and courage".