Brussels, 17/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Union of Federalists' (UEF) president MEP Jo Leinen (German Social Democrat) has called on Member States supporting the draft constitution presented by the Convention to sign the text "without delay" before the European elections of June 2004. In a press statement, the UEF said that it hoped that the text would be "signed before the European elections by as many (current and future) Member States as possible". According to the UEF, if Europe does not obtain a constitution before the next European elections, "the constitutional idea will be threatened, risking the disintegration of the Union".
The UEF is also calling on countries ready to sign the draft constitution to agree on: a ratification clause "based on the majority principle providing that the European constitution should enter into force as soon as two thirds of the signatory Member States have ratified it following their internal procedures; therefore the revision clause including an agenda and a mandate to a new Convention - to be convened no later than 2008 - in order to complete its constituent work and approve further improvements of the constitution".