The work of the European Convention is now complete. The approach adopted by the Convention, which was advocated by both the Commission and the European Parliament, has proved its effectiveness, for the first time enabling the full range of European and national view points to be heard in a broad- cased, open and transparent debate. The Commission is convinced that there are compelling reasons for this approach to be adopted for all new constitutional changes.

The Commission would like to thank the Chairman of the European Convention, Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, his Praesidium and all the members of the Convention for the enormous effort they have put in over fifteen months and for the results achieved.

The Commission would like to recall that the Nice and Laeken mandates called for:

* better division and definition of powers in the Union;

* simplification of the Union instruments;

* more democracy, transparency and efficiency.

* These are the criteria by which the citizens of Europe will judge the results of the Convention.

* In terms of substance, the draft constitutional treaty makes major strides forward with regard to the Union's new tasks and the institutional architecture:

* the integration of the Charter of fundamental rights into the constitutional treaty will ensure that citizens' rights are protected more effectively;

* conferring a single legal personality on the Union will enable it to take on a higher profile internationally;

* the drafting of a single constitutional treaty and the elimination of the different pillars will make the EU's work and the exercise of its
responsibilities easier to understand and more transparent for citizens;

* the generalisation with a few rare exceptions of the legislative procedure for the adoption of European laws will strengthen the Union's democratic legitimacy and openness;

* the clarification of the Union's powers will enable citizens to
distinguish more clearly between the Union's responsibilities and those of
its Member States, while preserving the flexibility of the Community system;

* the progress made in establishing an area of freedom, security and
justice will enable the Community method to be applied to this key sector;

* the new provisions on the common foreign and security policy,
together with the creation of an EU Foreign Affairs Minister, will help to
enhance the Union's role on the international stage;

* the provisions on defence will make it possible to improve military capabilities and will enable those Member States which are willing and able to do so to engage in structured cooperation that will strengthen the credibility of the EU's foreign policy.

* But there are still shortcomings on some important matters. It is to be expected that the compromises made do not fully satisfy any member of the Convention that is meritable in any negotiations. The Commission has to conclude that the result is not always as ambitious as it would have liked.

* Qualified majority voting has been extended to far more areas than
in the present Treaty, but it is still not sufficient for the needs of an
enlarged Union with thirty or so members for the next thirty years. The
Commission regards it as essential that the unanimity requirement be lifted
at once in other areas too.

* The institutional balance and the clarification of the role of the
institutions are still unsatisfactory. First of all, the composition of the
Commission could well hamper the operation of the institution, with one
Commissioner of each nationality and with a difference in status as only
fifteen Commissioners have the right to vote. Second, the creation of a more
permanent President of the European Council may well upset the institutional
balance and cause some duplication with the role of the Commission.

* The progress made on economic governance and external representation
of the euro is inadequate. The Member States sharing the same currency must
be allowed to take decisions together by the Community method.

* Finally the Commission regrets that the Convention has not inserted
in the Treaty a revision clause which would allow certain provisions of the
Constitution to be amended by a reinforced majority procedure, without
having to go through new national ratification procedures.

The Commission will do what it can to secure improvements to the
draft constitutional treaty on these points at the Intergovernmental
Conference.

The Commission regards the draft constitutional treaty as the basis
for the work of the Intergovernmental Conference.

All the same, much still has to be done on Part III of the
Constitution, dealing with policies. The Convention did not have time for
anything more than drafting alterations in adapting the Union's policies to
the challenge of enlargement. The Commission will make proposals on this
subject to the Intergovernmental Conference.