16/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a personal letter to the former President of the Republic of Germany, Johannes Rau, the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi underlines the importance of an agreement on the European Constitution, "after two and a half years of negotiations- over days years of reflection". Mr Ciampi points out that the decision to elect the European Parliament by universal suffrage had been hotly contested in 1975, adding: "if we had given in then, we would have delayed one of the essential democratic foundations of European integration; on the contrary, we stated clearly that a minority cannot indefinitely block (...) the profound sense of majority. Certainly, no people, no Parliament, no State should be forced to travel a path they do not share. But no people, no Parliament, and no State should be able to stop the others" from so doing.