Dear Europeans,

The celebrations of Enlargement are over, the European parliamentary elections are coming closer and the debate surrounding the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) is getting more and more complicated. Tony Blair decided that "... the people have the final say." One thing is sure, it would be the first time that Britain would be entirely at the heart of Europe. Its historically ambivalent relationship to the EU could end up in rejecting the Constitution and thus setting the agenda for the EU of 25. Or, the UK would leave the Union - because legally speaking, the Constitution can only replace the Treaties if its member states unanimously agree on.

Since the decision has been made already, now the campaign should start. A fair campaign showing the benefits of the Consitution to the British citizens and identifying Britain’s role in Europe should be welcomed. But one doubt remains: was Blair (supposedly the first pro-European PM in Britain) hiding behind Miller and Aznar?

Crucially, the decision to put the Constitution to the popular vote in the UK helps Blair within the IGC negotiations. He will find the support for the “red lines” more easily, since the other 24 at the table will be afraid of a British No. Vetos in the areas of migration policy, on judicial co-operation in criminal law, in foreign policy and tax issues are more likely to remain in place. And national egoism might therefore be the key-word on a European summit another time.

The Irish presidency published the so-called “Meeting of Focal Points”, an analysis of the negotiations so far. This will be the basis for the meeting of Foreign Ministers on the 17. and 18. May, one month before the final IGC. The most conentious issues still remain open and this means that the old rule of never-ending horse-trading has been followed.

The EU of 25 is facing its first challenge, that goes far beyond anything else – will a step forward be finally made at the June summit? Will the EU get a more democratic, transparent and legitimate decision-making system?

The overlapping of EU Elections and the IGC gives one advantage – the European political life is more open. We have the chance to ask the politicans to fulfill their responsibility towards the European people and to clearly express their vision of the EU of 25. And the Constitution should be born with this in mind: the political process has to be open and people do care!

This bulletin will continue to be published on a monthly basis. The next edition will be send to you just after the EP Elections, on 14th June 2004. As usual you are welcome to send us your contributions to bulletin@jef-europe.net, deadline for the next issue is 10th June 2004.
You can read all articles of this Bulletin in full length on: http://www.constitutional-convention.net.

Wishing you all a nice Election time!

Editor in chief

"If you say No to this, politically it is not the same thing as saying No to a treaty written in one night".

Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission

Dublin, 4 May 2004

1. Delegations will find attached a working document for the meeting of Focal Points on Tuesday 4 May 2004. For ease of reference, it is based on document CIG 60/03 ADD1, with which delegations are familiar.

2. The Presidency wishes to stress that this is purely a working document. It is not intended to be seen in any way as a fresh overall Presidency proposal.

3. In particular, the Presidency does not believe that the time is ripe for discussion at this meeting of a number of issues connected with the scope of Qualified Majority Voting. Therefore, as will be seen from the document, no new proposals are made on these issues at this time. This is without prejudice to future proposals the Presidency may bring forward.

4. The Presidency recalls that the President of the European Council, in writing to his colleagues on 8 April, made clear that he assumed and expected that no concerns not already signalled will be raised.

Full document is available on-line at:

http://ue.eu.int/igcpdf/en/04/cg00/cg00073.en04.pdf

A new Constitutional Treaty is good for the Member states of the European Union and vital for the EU’s future

European Parliament, Strasbourg, 04/05/2004

I am very pleased to be invited to speak to you today in this general debate on the future of the enlarged European Union . Towards a European Constitution. Today's debate is taking place as representatives of all the Member States and of the Parliament are meeting in Dublin. The task that has been set for them is to resolve the outstanding non-institutional issues in the debate on the Constitutional Treaty.

As a member of the European Convention, I am very conscious of the hard work and the deep commitment of the representatives of the European Parliament to the Convention process. While we may not have been entirely in agreement on each and every issue, I valued our shared commitment to producing a Constitutional Treaty that will serve this Union well and that will commend itself to the citizens of Europe. While negotiations on the draft Treaty are yet to be concluded, we can take some satisfaction from what has been achieved. I should like to underline that at this point in our discussions we have moved much further, in a much more positive way, than anyone would have believed possible in the dark days of December and the early days of January.

The draft that came out of the Convention provided the Intergovernmental Conference with a truly excellent framework on which to build a Constitutional Treaty that will stand the test of time. The draft is presented in language which is more accessible than any previous Treaty.

The draft makes it clear who does what in the Union. It elaborates the doctrine of subsidiarity, it clarifies the scope of the European Union's powers, it enhances democratic accountability and simplifies the range of legal instruments through which the Union acts. It seeks to provide the Union of 25 and more Member States with institutions that are workable and capable of meeting the needs of our citizens and of our Union into the future. It enshrines for the first time a Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Union's constitutional order. It equips our Union to act with greater cohesion internally and to project and promote our shared values on the world stage, the very values of which Mr Hume spoke so movingly a few moments ago.

Full speech is available at:
http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/speech/sp040504_en.pdf

2 May 2004

The Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, today met with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Mr. Anton Rop, the first in a series of meetings Mr. Ahern will have with EU leaders this month in his capacity as President of the European Council.

On Wednesday (May 5) Mr. Ahern will begin a tour of European capitals which will involve visiting the other twenty-three Member States and meeting with the leaders of the newly enlarged Union. The Taoiseach will next week visit the leaders of Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Mr. Ahern and Mr. Rop discussed the key outstanding issues in regard to reaching a final agreement on the Constitutional Treaty at the June European Council and both agreed on the need to make rapid progress.

Thanking Mr. Rop for his positive and constructive approach to the negotiations to date, Mr. Ahern said: " We agreed that all parties will need to continue to be flexible and pragmatic if we are to agree a Constitution that will allow the European Union to continue to function effectively as it continues to grow".

Full press release on-line:

http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/press/pr020504_en.pdf

On 26 April, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States and Acceding States decided, in the course of the "General Affairs" Council meeting in Luxembourg, that discussions on the draft Constitution would restart on 17 and 18 May, and that agreement on the Constitutional Treaty should be reached on 17 and 18 June 2004.

Full document can be accessed on-line at:

http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/other/oth270404_en.pdf

The two brochures on the European Draft Constitution "Presentation to citizens" and "Why a European Constitution?" are now available in the 9 languages of the Acceding Countries:

http://europa.eu.int/futurum/constinfo_newmembers_en.htm

A new website run by the Young European Federalists (JEF-Europe) devoted to the European parliamentary elections features a special news section on the Future of Europe.

Please visit: www.giveeuropeaface.net

Act4europe is a campaign of the Civil Society Contact Group (the largest NGO umbrella in Europe in liaison with the European Trade Union Confederation) formed to lobby cross-sectorally and across Europe around the Convention on the Future of Europe and the Intergovernmental Conference.

Their information Bulletins are regularly published and available for download at:

http://www.act4europe.org/code/en/act4.asp?Page=9&menuPage=9

The Young European Federalists (JEF-Europe) urge European leaders to show their political will to get the negotiations finished on the Constitution before the European elections on 10-13th of June.

Bertie Ahern, the prime minister of Ireland said yesterday in Stockholm that it is unlikely that the Constitution will be finished before the elections. JEF-Europe insists that the work be accelerated to ensure that citizens have the possibility to express their views about the Constitution when they go to the polls in June.

"When the drafting of the Constitution started, the leaders of the states promised that the work would be finished before the European parliamentary elections," stated Jon Worth, President of JEF Europe.

"Mr Ahern should now show a strong commitment to what the leaders have promised for the citizens."

"Without a swift agreement, the idea to bring Europe closer to its citizens once more sounds very hollow."

"European citizens, but also parties and their candidates, should have a chance to view the final results in order to have a real opinion about the Constitution," Jon Worth continued.

JEF Europe published yesterday an appeal to be distributed for national parliaments and European leaders to adopt the European Constitution, as drafted by the Convention, before the European elections.

The appeal is available at: http://www.giveeuropeaface.net/index.php?id=607

Wednesday, 05.05.2004

The EU needs the Constitution before the European Parliament elections!

Following the completion of enlargement of the EU on May 1st, the Young European Federalists (JEF-Europe) appeal to the European Parliament, national parliaments and European leaders to adopt the European Constitution, as drafted by the Convention, before the European elections.

"The Enlargement of the EU is like a marriage of reason" stated Jon Worth, President of JEF-Europe.

"But on such an occasion, usually the partners sign in a contract to ensure successful cohabitation and a happy future for the whole family."

"The just enlarged EU 25 definitely needs such a wedding contract: the European Constitution!"

At the occasion of the general debate on the future of the enlarged European Union of the European Parliament

Strasbourg, 04/05/2004

Monsieur le Président, Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, nous avons tous été certainement touchés et encouragés par les démonstrations de joie qui ont salué l'arrivée de dix nouveaux États membres au sein de l'Union européenne, ce 1er mai. Ces manifestations d'enthousiasme sont bien
justifiées. En effet, l'élargissement représente l'avenir. Tout d'abord, l'avenir de l'histoire de l'Europe, un avenir de paix, de prospérité, de solidarité et d'union à l'échelle continentale. Mais aussi l'avenir du projet européen, un projet dans le cadre duquel nous devons travailler ensemble et dont nous devons constamment, tous les jours, démontrer et expliquer la valeur ajoutée à nos citoyens pour mériter leur consensus.

L'élargissement représente aussi cette opportunité unique, que nous devons assumer sérieusement, de réformer nos politiques et de restructurer les institutions européennes de façon à développer les outils appropriés qui permettront à l'Union de demain de s'orienter non seulement sur les exigences internes et externes d'efficacité, de transparence et de simplification, mais également sur les préoccupations concrètes des citoyens, sur tout ce qui peut faire la différence
dans leur vie quotidienne.

Full speech is available on-line in French:

http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/speech/sp040504_fr.pdf

04/05/2004

Speaking in a debate in the European Parliament on the European Constitution, Hans-Gert Poettering the Chairman of the EPP-ED Group said:

"This is a good opportunity when thinking about the future to take stock as we have just done in the solemn session for Jean Monnet and Altiero Spinelli. When we take stock this gives us the hope and belief that we can look to the future of our continent with confidence. Let us think of enlargement, 1973 a Europe of 6 is enlarged with Ireland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, 1981 Greece, 1986 Spain and Portugal, 1995 three more countries Finland, Sweden and Austria, and then finally the Community of 25 that we have now. In parallel with this the deepening, 1956 EEC Euratom, 1986 the European Single Act, 1992 the Maastricht Treaty and one must remember the enormous contribution of Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, President, François Mitterrand, and Commission President, Jacques Delors continued by Jacques Santer. Amsterdam in 1995. Nice, perhaps this wasn't such a great success but, however, it brought the decision that we would conduct the negotiations with the candidate countries by the time of the European elections. If you put all of these developments together over the years, you must say that it is a marvellous continent that has gone forward despite great difficulties.

"I would also like to thank Commissioner Vitorino together with Commissioner Barnier who lead the work in the Convention. Of course there are some open questions in the EPP-ED Group. We would like to have a reference in the preamble to the Christian Judaic tradition and heritage. Another thing is important, Mr. Vitorino, if I understood correctly referred to this. We shouldn't allow a limitation of the budgetary powers of the European Parliament. It is a prerogative of the European Parliament and of any Parliament that it can decide on the budget. We won't tolerate any limitation of our budgetary powers. The European Constitution is a big step forward, because it strengthens the Community of Europe. It is a step forward because it strengthens European democracy and the parliamentary system. It is a step forward because subsidiarity is strengthened. For the first time the principle of the local authorities and municipalities having a right, for the first time, to decide on their own affairs is provided for.. Europe is becoming more democratic and better able to act. We want to maintain the unity of this diverse Europe and the Constitution is a means to achieve this.

Full press release is available on-line at:

http://www.epp-ed.org/Press/showpr.asp?PRControlDocTypeID=1&PRControlID=2699&PRContentID=5195&PRContentLG=en

Sunday 25 April 2004

The attacks of 11 March in Madrid were a crime against Spain, but also against Europe. All Europeans feel a sense of solidarity with the Spanish people, and more particularly with the victims of the brutal terrorist act. We share the suffering of the people of Madrid and their determination to face up to the consequences of such a terrible blow.

Terrorism is a grave threat to peace and coexistence worldwide. Ending this threat must be a priority for any political organisation. We must fight against terrorism while fully respecting the rule of law, by achieving a comprehensive agreement on the methods that will be applied to this end, on the instruments that must be used to apprehend criminals and to put and end to the political and financial support that sustains them.

Briefing note for the UK Liberal Democrat European Parliamentary Party on "The Constitution and the IGC" written by Andrew Duff MEP and Guillaume McLaughlin

27 April 04

The Draft Constitution enhances the capacity of the European Union to act effectively at home and abroad. It rationalises the legal and policy instruments used by the EU and streamlines decision making. It codifies and entrenches what is valuable in the existing EU treaties, reflecting the latest case law of the European Court of Justice.