The European Constitution:

Summary proposals of the Forum:

1. Characteristics and values of the United Europe
2. Objectives
3. Fundamental rights and citizenship
4. Fundamental principles and competences

(as adopted by the Forum on 25 February 2003)

This document identifies:· the proposed amendments supported by the Forum;· "serious" omissions: topics which are neither covered by the text of the Praesidium nor by the amendments proposed;· draft proposals that combine the document of the Praesidium, the amendments proposed by certain Convention members and some of the amendments proposed by civil society; ten new items.

On the eve of the enlargement, it is the metamorphosis of the European Union which is being undertaken. The Forum takes a stand in favour of the adoption of a new name for the political body of States to be "refounded".

The Permanent Forum of Civil Society is proposing in particular to introduce the following ten new items in the Constitution:

1. marking the refoundation of Europe with the choice of the name "UNITED EUROPE";

2. putting in the federal purpose of a United Europe and the principle of an ever closer Union in the preamble;

3. stating the constitutional principle that sovereignty belongs to the people in Article 1;

4. introducing the principle of conferral of objectives in Article 1, with the Union's competences being an instrument to achieve these objectives;

5. introducing the values of representative, participatory, parity democracy in Article 2:

6. stating the objective of refusal of war and of the action of the United Europe within the framework of the United Nations in Article 3;

7. introducing an evolutionary, review clause in Article 5 with regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights;

8. drafting Articles 8 to 16 in accordance with the principle of conferral of objectives and division of competences in line with this principle and with the criteria of subsidiarity, proportionality and loyal cooperation;

9. introducing in Article 8 a principle according to which decisions should be taken as closely as possible to the citizens of the Union, in consultation with their associations, as well as the principle of citizens having a power of inquiry vis-à-vis the Parliament as regards compliance with the subsidiarity principle;

10. enlarging the scope of the policies undertaken on a primary basis and introducing in Article 11 the principle that within the United Nations, with the exception of the Security Council, the Commission shall negotiate on behalf of the Member States on the basis of a mandate from the Council of States and the Parliament of the United Europe and under their supervision.

United Europe (UE): establishment and characteristics (Article 1)

Amendments by Convention members

1. The Forum shares the view expressed by Convention member Neil MacCormick, who stated:

"The Union already exists and has proven its durability as a polity of a unique kind: the proper is therefore to establish a proper Constitution for this Union and it should be clear that those who establish it are those who are already its citizens".

The Forum proposes to Convention members to adopt the spirit of the amendment put forward by Neil MacCormick while including a reference to the citizens of the United Europe, which should replace or supplement the Europe of peoples. In this light, the Forum supports the suggestion expressed in the amendments submitted by Puwak, Kaufmann, Fischer, Zieleniec, Paciotti and Spini, Van Lancker-Duhamel-Marinho-Berès-Berger-Carnero-Paciotti, Söderman, Follini, Arabadjiev.

2. The choice of a name - an issue raised by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing - should be linked to the vision chosen to be promoted with this new stage in European integration. From the Community (or "Communities") of the 1950's, we have moved on to the Union of the 1990's, finally entering - with thenew century - a stage whose purpose is the unification of Europe on the basis of common values.

While appreciating how appropriate it would be to keep a name " "European Union" - which was introduced twelve years ago with the Maastricht Treaty though it originates much further back in the history of integration, the Forum shares the view that it is important to signal that the citizens of a large number of European countries have decided to embark democratically on the way towards the unification of the continent.

3. The Forum is strongly convinced that a body composed of a large number of countries and set to manage competences in areas which go far beyond the single market can only operate efficiently and democratically if it is based on federal institutions and adopts the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity.

It is within this framework that the objective of an ever closer union should be stated, as was proposed by a number of Convention members (de Villepin, Michel and others, Lopes, Van Lancker, Meyer, Hübner, Lequiller, Kuneva, Fischer, Severin, Fini, Kohout, Duhamel on behalf of PES, Brok on behalf of EPP, Meyer).

4. The federal nature of this body of countries raises the issue of its nature as a state and its final relations with its national state components (as was suggested in the amendments submitted by Messrs. Fischer, Kuneva and de Villepin about the Federation of Nation States).

This issue cannot be settled by the Constitution drawn up by the Convention. In this context, the Forum considers that the federal nature of the UE should be stated in the preamble to the Constitution, thus confirming the federal aim of European integration as mentioned in the Declaration of 9 May 1950.

Likewise, the reference to an ever closer union - which indicates the evolutionary, dynamic nature of European integration - should have a place in the preamble rather than in one of the Constitution articles.

5. Defining the nature of European integration raises the issue of its borders, which has never been discussed by the Union institutions though it is now becoming urgent at the time of enlarging the Union to ten countries from Central and Eastern Europe and from the Mediterranean area as well as in the light of the statements made by a number of European leaders (Mr. Berlusconi about Russia and Israel), Mr. Prodi about the Balkans and Mr. Giscard d'Estaing about Turkey).

6. Stating the federal nature of European integration entails four important consequences, which should have a place in the first article of the Constitution:
· The UE is established - by the common will of its citizens on the basis of common values - to promote peace, solidarity, freedom and progress on the European continent and in the world and to pursue the objectives conferred upon it by the Constitution. The conferral of competences is but an instrument to fulfil these objectives and should not be enshrined in the first article of the Constitution.
· According to the criterion of good governance, the UE only coordinates the policies of its Member States in the areas necessary to achieve coherence and cohesion in its actions.· Federal institutions alone can guarantee the nature and foundation of the constitutional structure of the UE Member States - within a solidarity framework - (see the Lamassoure amendment), far beyond respect for national identity. This phrase actually sounds ambiguous and ill-placed from the point of view of the unification of countries and peoples with such diverse national history.
· Federal institutions alone can allow national, regional and local authorities to fully develop (see amendments by Michel and others, Lopes, Hübner, Einem, Tiilikanen-Peltomäki, Follini, EPP, Katiforis, Chabert and others, Serracino-Inglott, MacCormick, Olesky, Eckstein-Kovacs, Lamassoure, Cushanan, Vanhanen, Giannakou, Lequiller, Wittbrodt, Costa and others, Inguanez and others, Chabert, and others).

Omissions

1. The citizenship dimension of the UE requires stating a principle which is at the root of all 20th-century democratic constitutions: "sovereignty belongs to the people". This principle was already proposed by the Praesidium of the Convention on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and should also be included at the beginning of the European constitution.

2. On this basis, the Forum proposes the following draft for Article 1:

1. Mindful that, after more than fifty years of endeavour in peace and in mutual solidarity, the States and peoples within a great part of the European Continent have successfully established a Union of a unique kind among themselves and endowed it with a common citizenship, we the citizens of this Union and our States decide to establish a new polity under the name of "UNITED EUROPE" and adopt the following Constitution in order to better regulate our common affairs, to declare the values and objectives of our Union and to promote peace, solidarity, security and progress in Europe and in the world .

2. UE sovereignty belongs to the peoples.

3. The United Europe shall guarantee the nature and foundation of the constitutional structure of the Member States as well as the full development of national, regional and local authorities.

4. UE membership entails adherence to its founding values. It shall be open to all European States that share these values, respect them and are committed to promoting them together.

5. On the basis of the full acquis communautaire, the UE shall pursue the objectives conferred upon it by the Constitution and, to this end, coordinate the policies of its Member States only insofar as necessary to fulfil the aforementioned objectives and ensure its cohesion.

UE values (Article 2)

Amendments by Convention members

1. The Forum welcomes the values proposed by the Praesidium, though it agrees with the requirement formulated by a large number of Convention members to the effect that these values must be associated and reinforced with those of equality (Duhamel and others, Dybkjaer, Gabaglio, Andiukaitis, Vassiliou, Michel and others, Puwak, Paciotti and Spini, Katiforis, Voggenhuber and Lichtenberger, Portuguese members of the Convention, Giannakou, Einem, Tiilikanen and Peltomäki, Kiljunen, Vanhanen, Svensson, Palacio, Kaufmann), equality between men and women (Dolores, Costa, McAvan, Einem, Wittbrodt, Fogler), pluralism (Lequiller and Cravinho) and peace and solidarity (Michel and others, Lopes, Puwak, Paciotti et Spini, Katiforis, Voggenhuber and Lichtenberger, Costa and others, McAvan, Frendo, Serracino, Inguanez, Hübner).

Omissions

2. The Forum proposes to strengthen the reference to democracy by specifying that it is a representative, participatory, parity democracy.

3. The Forum shares the suggestion to delete the second sentence in Article 2, while strongly supporting the idea put forward by the Paciotti and Spini, Borrell and Carnero amendments, namely to introduce the principle of refusal of war among the objectives set out in Article 3.

("The UE shall repudiate war as a means of resolving international disputes. In accordance with international law, it shall act within the United Nations Organization to ensure peace, justice and the sustainable development of the earth").

The European Union is a monument dedicated to the rejection of the old political order, a post-modern system which is not based on the use of force.

4. The Forum proposes to add a second paragraph in Article 2 with the following formulation: "These values shall be promoted by UE institutions and bodies, collective players and individuals".

On this basis, the Forum proposes the following draft for Article 2:

1. The UE is based on the inviolability of human dignity, freedom, equality, representative, participatory and parity democracy, pluralism and cultural diversity , the rule of law, fundamental rights, peace and solidarity - values which are common to the Member States.

2. These values shall be promoted by institutions, collective players and individuals.

3. The UE shall act with a view to advancing these values in the world.

UE objectives (Article 3)

1. The Forum considers that the formulation of this Article should be clear and concise and help citizens understand the fundamental reasons for European integration and the added value of its action in relation to the actions of the Member States.

2. The definition of objectives should also be done in accordance with a specific, understandable hierarchy.

Amendments by Convention members

3. In this light, the Forum is ready to support the draft Article 3 proposed by Messrs. Haenel and Badinter with the addition of:

a. a reference to the eradication of extreme poverty, non-discrimination (by deleting Article 6) and the promotion of social integration (amendments by Fayot, Michel and others, Lequiller, Borrell-Carnero, Giannakou);

b. a reference to services of general interest (amendments by Cravinho, Puwak, Michel and others, Voggenhuber-Lichtenberger, Duhamel and others, MacCormick, de Villepin, Gabaglio, Borrell and others, Einem, Kuneva, Lequiller);

c. the harmonious and gradual integration of developing countries into the world economy and a common defence policy together with a common foreign and security policy (amendments by Barnier, Michel and others);

d. the above-mentioned paragraph on refusal of war (Paciotti, Spini, Borrell, Carnero).

Omissions

4. The Forum supports the objectives of the Union as mentioned in Article 3 of the text proposed by the Praesidium: "promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples, work for a Europe of sustainable development and contribute to the sustainable development of the earth".

5. The United Europe should promote "the development of a global well-being society and global sustainable development". There is an obvious need to indicate that the Union's ambition to bring Europe to have a more competitive, more dynamic (knowledge-based) society will require strong European participation in a "global alliance for multipolar well-being". This project for a new civilization requires from the UE Constitution to take into account the necessity of a global project for sustainable development and a well-being society, regarded as the key for global peace and access to happiness as well as for the security of Europe and its competitiveness.

6. The United Europe should act to fight against the international criminality, the corruption and the destruction of natural ressources, having in view the elaboration of a common criminal law and an European Criminal Tribunal.

7. On this basis, the Forum proposes the following draft for Article 3:

1. The UE shall ensure peace on its territory. It shall repudiate war as a means of resolving international disputes and, in accordance with international law, shall act within the United Nations Organization to ensure peace and justice in the world.

2. The UE shall foster the economic and social development of the Member States, regions and other territorial local authorities. It ensures their sustainable, balanced development - economically, socially and ecologically - in particular by means of a single market, an economic and monetary union with a single currency, economic and social cohesion, solidarity between the Member States to meet the needs of the present generation while respecting the rights of future generations, support to families and children's rights. It shall fight for the eradication of poverty, non-discrimination and promotion of social integration. It shall aim at achieving quality full employment on its territory and shall ensure a high level of social protection and universal access to services of general interest. It shall promote interregional and cross-border cooperation and ensure equality between women and men.

3. The UE shall guarantee the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Member States. It shall promote a mutual knowledge of their cultures and the learning of their languages. It shall see to it that the European cultural heritage is preserved and developed. It shall contribute to the influence of European culture in the world.

4. The UE shall contribute to the advance of knowledge, scientific research
and technology.

5. The UE shall ensure a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall contribute to the development of a global well-being society and sustainable development in the world, the harmonious and gradual integration of developing countries into the world economy and the preservation of natural resources and equilibriums.

6. The UE shall constitute an area of freedom, security and justice, in which fundamental rights, the right to asylum and the free movement of persons are respected. It shall contribute to the fight against the differents forms of international criminality, the corruption and the destruction of natural ressources.

7. The UE shall define and implement a common foreign and security policy and a common defence policy .

8. Within the framework of its policies and laws, the UE shall comply with the commitments entered into during United Nations Conferences.

Legal personality (Article 4)

1. The Forum considers that granting legal personality to the UE represents one of the most important steps forward accomplished by the Convention up to now.

Amendments by Convention members

2. The Forum believes that granting legal personality to the UE should be accompanied by a constitutional acknowledgement of the primacy of European law (amendments submitted by the EPP, Kiljunen and Vanhaenen, Tiilikanen and Peltomäki, Figel, Rupel, Wittbrodt, Fogler), by the principle of loyal cooperation (amendments by the EPP, Tiilikanen and Peltomäki, Figel, Wittbrodt, Fogler) and by a clause of solidarity and collective defence as proposed by the EPP, Figel, Wittbrodt, Fogler and Portuguese members of the Convention (Costa and others).

3. The Forum considers that the possible list of UE symbols (flag, hymn, etc.) should have a place in a paragraph in Article 5, not in Article 1bis as was proposed by a number of Convention members.

4. On this basis, the Forum proposes the following draft for Article 4:

1. The United Europe shall have legal personality.

2. The United Europe's law shall prevail over national law.

3. In accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation, the United Europe and the Member States shall, in full mutual respect, assist each other to carry out tasks which flow from the Constitution.

4. Member States shall take all appropriate measures, general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations flowing from the Constitution or resulting from actions taken by the United Europe Institutions.

5. In accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation, Member States shall facilitate the achievement of the United Europe's tasks and refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the objectives set out in the Constitution. The United Europe shall act loyally towards the Member States.

6. If any of the Member States should be the subject of a terrorist or an armed attack, the other Member States shall afford the Member State so attacked, at the request of its civilian authorities, all military and other aid and assistance within their power.

7. The flag of the United Europe shall be a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background. The currency shall be the euro. The anthem shall be the Ode of Joy from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. 9 May shall be celebrated as United Europe day.

Fundamental rights (Article 5)

Omissions

1. The Forum proposes in particular to add a monitoring clause to the Charter whereby the UE institutions can reinforce it on the model of the procedure laid down in the Treaty for European citizenship.

2. Here is a new formulation for Article 5, on the basis of the draft Charter adopted by the Forum in March 1997:

1. The Charter of Fundamental Rights shall be an integral part of the Constitution.

2. The Commission shall submit an annual work plan to the UE Council of States and Parliament - under the co-decision procedure - to improve and increase access to the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter.

3. The fundamental rights asserted in particular by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Rome, 1950), by the European Social Charter (Turin, 1961 " amended, 1996), by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (New York, 1948), by the International Convention on Children's Rights, by the international United Nations Pacts on civic, political, economic and social rights (New York, 1966) form the common ethical heritage of the UE .

4. The United Europe is a member of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Accession to that Convention shall not affect the European Union's competences as defined by this Constitution.

5. Fundamental Rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, shall constitute general principles of the United Europe's law.

Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality (Article 6)

Amendments by Convention members

1. The Forum shares the view expressed by several Convention members to the effect that this Article should be deleted (see Charter).

European citizenship (Article 7)

Amendments by Convention members

1. The Forum agrees with the amendments proposing to delete paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 7. On the basis of the enclosed proposals, the Forum supports the amendments providing for the possibility of European citizenship after five years of residence (PES group, Nagy, Borrell and Carnero, Paciotti, Kaufmann, Fayot, Di Rupo) and those proposing to extend citizenship to refugees and stateless persons (Voggenhuber and Lichtenberger).

2. The Forum also supports the amendments proposing to delete the second part of the text of the Praesidium (duplication with the Charter).

3. Here is a new formulation for Article 7:

1. European citizenship shall be established. Every national of a Member State or every person legally residing on the territory of the United Europe for a five-year period shall be a citizen of the UE. European citizenship shall be additional to the citizenship conferred by a Member State and shall not replace it.

2. Citizens of the United Europe shall enjoy the rights and be subject to the duties provided for in this Constitution.

3. The UE shall ensure harmonisation of the rights of access to national citizenship.

UE competences (Articles 8 to 16)

1. Regarding Articles 8 to 16 that compose TITLE III entitled "The Union's competences", none of the amendments proposed calls into question the fundamental principle used to define the powers of the United Europe, namely the definition of three categories of competence: exclusive, shared and complementary, though this is an essential issue which Convention members should examine in depth.

2. Although it is clear that the powers of the United Europe should derive from a conferral process, it is important to pay special attention to two essential issues:
a) What kind of conferral is it about? What is being conferred?
b) Who has the authority for this conferral process?
3. Conferring a "competence" means allocating an area of political life within society that the United Europe would be entitled to manage - either exclusively, or on a shared or complementary basis. This is the method that has been used since the beginning of the European construction, and experience has shown how much imprecision this method has generated about the exact division of the spheres of competence, serious failures to act and/or cases of overlapping, in short, fruitless and paralyzing conflicts of interpretation.

4. This approach is particularly supported by those who fear that the authority and powers of the subnational entities of the Member States might not be sufficiently respected by the United Europe. This objection loses some of its weight, however, when noting that pursuant to par. 3 of Article 1, proposed by the Forum on the basis of a large number of amendments by Convention members, "the United Europe shall guarantee the nature and foundation and of the constitutional structure of the Member States as well as the full development of national, regional and local authorities".

Omissions

4. This is why the Forum proposes to Convention members to define the competences of the United Europe - a fundamental issue raised by the Laeken Declaration - as "policies" in which the objectives to be reached together with the method used to reach them are jointly defined by the Parliament and Council. To this end, four separate types of policies are provided for, namely:
- policies undertaken on a primary basis, corresponding to exclusive
competences;
- accompanying policies, corresponding to shared competences;
- supporting policies, corresponding to supporting competences;
- a common external relations, security and defence policy.

5. Adopting this principle to define UE competences implies that the formulation of Articles 8 to 16 should be rethought and that TITLE III of the Constitution should become POLICIES OF THE UNITED EUROPE instead of "Competences of the United Europe".

Warning

7. It should be kept in mind, when reading this series of articles (from 8 to 16), that the powers and rights that they establish for the benefit of the United Europe - and hence for the common good of its citizens - are implemented by institutions according to a number of rules and monitoring procedures to be defined in the Constitution articles that follow (from 24 to 31), which the Praesidium has just adopted. More specifically, the binding nature of the rights and powers defined under Title III should not put people off, since Title IV (Institutions), V (Implementation of competences) et VI (The democratic life of the United Europe ) still have to be defined and should be defined in such a way as to ensure democratic control over the exercise of these rights and powers.

A. Fundamental principles (Article 8)

1. Adopting this principle requires first and foremost that the definition
of a "policy" should be introduced in par. 1 and that the four types of
policies should be formulated under par. 2.

2. On the other hand, as regards par. 3 (subsidiarity principle), the Forum has insisted for a long time on the need for a "horizontal" type of subsidiarity. It therefore proposes that this principle should be mentioned in an indent of par. 3.

Here is a new formulation for Article 8:

1. In the pursuit of its objectives, the UE shall undertake policies whose specific objective and the method used to reach it are governed by the principles of conferral, subsidiarity, proportionality and loyal cooperation. The division of competences established by the Constitution complies with these principles.

2. In accordance with the principle of conferral, the UE shall pursue its objectives:
a. Internally:
i. through the definition and conduct of the policies it undertakes on a primary basis, through the adoption of initiatives that frame and, where appropriate, are substituted for the actions of the Member States,
ii. through policies that accompany the actions of the Member States, through the coordination and convergence of their national policies,
iii. through complementary policies in support of national policies;
b. Externally: through the implementation of a common foreign and security policy and a common defence policy.

3. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity:
a. the UE shall ensure that decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizens of the Union and established in consultation with their associations within the framework of a representative, participatory, parity, proximity democracy;
b. the UE shall act only if and insofar as the objectives of the intended action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States or by their local authorities on the basis of the powers conferred upon them by their national legislation , or can be better achieved at the UE level by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action.

4. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, the UE action shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives set out in the Constitution.

5. In accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation, the UE and the Member States shall, in full mutual respect, assist each other to carry out the policies that each undertakes under the terms of the Constitution.

6. On the basis of the principle of the coehrence of the policies, the United Europe shall ensure the coherence of the actíons in the external policy. The UE policies and actions have to take into account the objectives defined in the article 3, mainly in the field of the cooperation with the Third World.

B. Application of fundamental principles (Article 9)

1. Par. 1 of the text proposed by the Praesidium should be deleted as it is already taken up in the text proposed above for Article 4.

2. A new formulation is proposed to replace the conclusions of the Convention working groups on subsidiarity and on national parliaments as regards control over the application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles. Its logic is based on two elements:

Firstly, the recognition of a right of inquiry (in the parliamentary sense of the concept, i.e. involving a matter set on the agenda and a reply) to be exercised during a legislative procedure.

Secondly, an inquiry by a national parliament should logically be addressed to the Council of States, whereas an inquiry by citizens should logically be addressed to the Parliament of the Union, given the respective legitimacy of these two institutions which together fulfil the legislative function within the Union.

3. Here is a new formulation for Article 9:

1. In conducting the policies conferred upon it in pursuance of the Constitution, the UE and its institutions shall ensure that the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are respected.

2. When an action envisaged by the UE or the lack of such an action might violate the principles of subsidiarity and/or proportionality, the parliaments of the Member States may request information from the Council of States while UE citizens and legal persons established on the territory of the UE may request information from the UE Parliament. Replies shall be made public.

3. Taking the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality into account shall be suitably substantiated in UE law.

4. Member States shall take all appropriate measures, general or particular, to ensure fulfilment of the obligations flowing from the Constitution or resulting from actions taken by the institutions of the United Europe.

5. In accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation, Member States shall facilitate the conduct of the UE policies and refrain from any measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the UE objectives set out in the Constitution. The United Europe shall act loyally towards the Member States.

C. Categories of competence (Article 10) " To be replaced by "Application of the principle of conferral"

1. The purpose of this Article is to specify:· who has the authority to confer a policy upon the UE and determine the policy to be used among the four types of policies set out under Article 8.2: this is the purpose of par. 1 of Article 10. resulting powers for the UE: this is the purpose of the following paragraphs of Article 10.

2. Here is a new formulation for Article 10:

1. Conferral of a policy upon the United Europe is jointly decided by the UE Parliament and the Council of States which shall define the specific objective of the policy conferred and the method to be used to reach this objective among the four possible types of policies laid down in Article 8.2 of the Constitution.

2. In undertaking a policy on a primary basis, only the UE may legislate and adopt legally binding acts, the Member States being able to do so themselves only if so empowered by the UE.

3. In undertaking an accompanying policy, the UE and the Member States shall have the power to legislate and adopt legally binding acts in conducting this policy. The Member States shall exercise their competence only if and to the extent that the UE has not exercised its.

4. In undertaking a supporting policy, the UE cannot resort to harmonisation of Member States' laws or regulations.

5. Within the framework of the UE common foreign and security policy and defence policy, Member States shall actively and unreservedly support the UE in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity. They shall refrain from any action contrary to the interests of the UE or likely to undermine its effectiveness.

D. Exclusive competences (Article 11) " To be replaced by "Policies undertaken on a primary basis"

1. Developing a common foreign policy will be a gradual process. In the areas coming under the United Nations - with the exception of the Security Council -, it is proposed that, as in the trade area within the WTO, the Commission should negotiate on the basis of a mandate from the Council and Parliament and under their supervision.

2. The scope of primary competence as regards biological resources has been limited up to now to marine resources and fisheries. The Forum proposes to extend this scope to the management of the biological resources that belong to our common heritage and are the subject of international negotiations on this account.

3. Here is a new formulation for Article 11:

1. The UE shall undertake on a primary basis the policies that ensure the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital, and establish competition rules, within the internal market and subject to compliance with Article 3 of the Constitution. It shall also undertake the following:
- customs union policy,
- common, external commercial policy,
- monetary and exchange-rate policy for those States which have adopted the euro,
- policy relating to the conservation of the biological resources that belong to our common heritage,
- definition and implementation of a common foreign policy and a defence policy ,
- common area of freedom and security and access to the territory of the United Europe , and the controle of the external borders
- common organization of the market in agricultural products ,
- structural and cohesion policies ,
- the fiscal power to finance the UE budget and a system of financial perequation,
- rules to ensure the functioning of the UE institutions, particularly as regards linguistic matters, staff and data protection, without prejudice to the autonomous management of each institution ,- establishment of UE statistics .

2. The UE shall have exclusive competence for the conclusion of an international agreement when its conclusion is provided for in a legislative act of the UE, is necessary to enable the UE to undertake the policies conferred upon it or affects an internal act of the UE.

3. Within the United Nations, with the exception of the Security Council, the Commission shall negotiate on behalf of the Member States on the basis of a mandate from the Council and Parliament and under their supervision.

4. Any such international agreement shall be subject to ratification by the UE Parliament and the Council of States, which shall act by a dual qualified majority.

E. Shared competences (Articles 12 and 13 to be merged) " To be replaced by "Accompanying policies"

1. As far as accompanying policies are concerned, the Forum supports the amendments submitted by those who reject the introduction of a restrictive list of such competences in the Constitution. On the other hand, the Forum accepts the principle according to which any competence other than those under a policy undertaken on a primary basis, a supporting policy or the common foreign and security policy and the defence policy is automatically the subject of an accompanying policy.

2. Under this hypothesis, par. 3 of Article 12 of the text of the Praesidium can be deleted since it would become purposeless.

3. The Forum also believes, however, that, on the model of Article 13 of the text of the Praesidium concerning the coordination of economic policies, it would be important to explicitly mention in the Constitution that the UE undertakes an accompanying policy for the economic, tax and employment policies of the Member States.

4. On this basis, here is a new draft for the Articles 12 and 13 to be merged:

1. Any area of competence other than those coming under a policy undertaken on a primary basis, a supporting policy or the common foreign and security policy and the defence policy, is automatically the subject of an accompanying policy undertaken by the UE insofar as this is necessary to achieve the objectives conferred upon it by the Constitution.

2. The United Europe shall undertake an accompanying policy for the economic, tax and employment policies of the Member States, in order for the main lines of these policies to comply with Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. As far as Member States are concerned, they shall conduct their economic, tax and employment policies in compliance with Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. Specific provisions shall apply to those Member States which have adopted the euro .

3. On the basis of a proposal made by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council shall adopt common criteria for the elaboration of the national budgets.

F. The common external relations and security policy (Article 14)

1. This Article can be deleted (see Article 10), as was requested by a number of Convention members (Lamassoure , Voggenhuber and Lichtenberger, Kirkhope, Nagy, Belohorska).

G. Supporting policies (Article 15

1. Here is a new formulation for Article 15:

1. The UE shall undertake coordinating, complementary and supporting actions, the objectives of which are determined by the provisions of Part II.

H. Flexibility clause (Article 16)

1. Here is a new formulation for Article 16:

1. If action by the United Europe should prove necessary to achieve one or more objectives in conducting the policies conferred upon it, and the Constitution has not provided the necessary specific powers, the Council of States and the UE Parliament, acting by a qualified strengthened majority on a proposal from the Commission, shall establish the appropriate measures in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 10.

2. Using the procedure for monitoring the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality referred to in Article 9, the Commission shall make the proposals based on this Article publicly available.

3. When the United Europe takes action under the provisions of this Article, it cannot resort to harmonisation of Member States' laws or regulations in cases where the Constitution excludes such harmonisation.

Permanent Forum of Civil Society, Square de Meeûs 25, B-1000 Brussels. Tel. (0032)-02/508.30.84 - Fax (0032)-02/508.30.89
mailto:permanentforum@europeanmovement.org
www.europeanmovement.orgwww.forum-civil-society.org