Brussels, 19/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The draft Constitution of the European Union, nicknamed "Penelope", which was written by a group of European Commission officials headed up by the Director General for Transport and Energy, François Lamoureux, was presented to the Press on Monday. During its circulation as a working document last winter, there were no Press conferences, as the Commission had not assumed responsibility for it. It is now published by Clément Juglar of Paris, with a foreword by the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, accompanied by a series of comments compiled by Alfonso Mattera, an adviser to the President. Featuring among the commentators are Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs (and member of the Convention Presidium), Ana de Palacio, Commissioners Michel Barnier, Pascal Lamy and Antonio Vitorino, MEP Jean-Louis Bourlanges, Viscount Etienne Davignon, and others. So now the "Penelope" draft has left the quasi-secrecy shrouding it, having been presented to the Press by François Lamoureux, who is in charge of the text, and Alfonso Mattera, co-ordinator of the commentaries.
Mr Lamoureux spoke out against the risk that all media attention (and therefore public opinion) will now continue to home in on one aspect, institutional reform, or, more specifically, two parts of it: the composition of the European Commission and the Presidency of the European Council. In fact, there are many other things at stake. The Constitutional Treaty should not be limited to establishing or confirming the broad principles of European unity and setting down new chapters, whilst leaving the rest intact. The chapters on Union policies are equally indispensable, and "Penelope" puts forward solutions. For the defence sector, Penelope offers a separate draft, which gets past the absurd situation under which "reinforced co-operation" in this field requires the authorisation…. of the very countries which oppose it.
For his part, Mr Mattera insisted on moving away from the idea of a European super-state: in "Penelope", ideas based on harmonisation and suppression of disparities, which "have been handed down to us by a homogenising, interventionist past" are replaced by the notion of the smooth functioning of the single market and the recognition of national provisions, a notion based on respect for national, regional and local identities, as well as for the economic, social, cultural diversities, even the differences in our food, which arise from them.