Dear Europeans

This week saw the first hearings of the Convention with Civil Society. This was the first formal opportunity for representatives of civil society organizations to present their views directly to Convention members. Civil society organizations were united in asking the Convention to address the central issues of institutional reform, to make the Union more democratic and accountable and closer to the citizens. You will find in this edition speeches the Convention from Fernand Herman, on behalf of the Federalist Voice network, and Alison Weston, on behalf of the Youth Contact Group. Civil Society showed itself willing to address the big questions facing the Union, but while the hearings process must be welcomed, the Convention has yet to show itself willing to give real substance to the consultation process. This process will only be of value if the hearings are seen as the beginning, rather than the end, of consultation with civil society. When the most crucial questions of power are addressed in working groups on the basis of draft texts, civil society organizations should also be able to make their contributions.

One very striking outcome of this week’s hearings was the near-unanimous support for the idea of a Constitution for the Union. Citizens and civil society organizations are fed up with unreadable treaties which are incomprehensible to all but the most expert. It is increasingly clear that more and more participants in the debate on the future of Europe recognise that only a Constitution can establish the rules of the game in a clear and understandable format. This week’s edition of the Bulletin contains interviews with two very influential members of the Convention who share this view: Inigo Mendez de Vigo MEP, member of the Convention Presidium and Professor of Constitutional Law, and Andrew Duff MEP, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s delegation to the Convention. There is growing support outside the Convention for the principle of a Constitution, and we are happy that this view is also gaining ground within the Convention itself.

The last session of the Convention plenary before the summer break will take place 11-12 July, and it will also include a joint session with the Youth Convention, scheduled to start on 9 July. The Youth Convention could be a real opportunity to stimulate debate among young people, but so far the attempts by the Convention Secretariat to micro-manage the event have raised fears that this will be no more than a public relations exercise. Youth organisations, which have worked hard to respond to the Laeken Declaration’s call for greater youth involvement, are concerned that the close control over the Youth Convention being maintained by the Convention Secretariat risks undermining the legitimacy of the entire event, and preventing it from producing any kind of serious result. We hope that these fears will prove unfounded, but at the moment the signs are not encouraging.

The next edition of the Bulletin will focus on the Youth Convention. As always, your contributions are always welcome. Please send them to info@constitutional-convention.net. As usual, you can see all articles of this Bulletin in full length on the Constitutional Convention Homepage: www.constitutional-convention.net . If you wish to comment on any articles, feel free to do so in our online-discussion-forum: http://www.constitutional-convention.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi.

Best European greetings,

Your Editors.