JEF Europe is alarmed by the proposals of some European governments to reopen the compromise established in the Constitutional Convention. Alison Weston, President of the Young European Federalists (JEF), stated, “Intergovernmental Conferences have historically shown themselves to be ineffective and incapable of delivering real democratic improvements to the European Union. Reopening the Convention’s compromise, which gathered broad support from all sides, risks delivering Nice II: a bad atmosphere and a bad result, damaging public confidence in the European project.”
While the Young European Federalists are disappointed with some proposals made by the Convention, it believes strongly that the final text should be accepted by the IGC. “The Convention was an open process based on consultation and transparency, which put the citizen at the heart of the debate. In contrast, the IGC is a place where governments fight for symbolic power-gains behind closed doors, leaving the needs of the citizens behind,” Alison Weston continued. “We expect our governments to accept this Constitution, and to ensure a public information campaign to bring this debate to the citizens of Europe.”

JEF believes that the Constitutional project cannot be held hostage to the vetoes of a small number of member states. Jan Kreutz, Vice President of JEF said, “The Constitution should enter into force if a substantial majority of member states ratify it. It should not be possible for individual member states to destroy the Convention’s work and block progress towards a more democratic Europe.”

However, JEF agrees with those European actors who believe that the battle to improve and realise the full potential of the Constitution must continue. JEF would like to see further progress towards a genuine Federal Constitution, with the abolition of all exceptions from the legislative procedure, the establishment of a bicameral parliamentary system, and the transformation of the European Commission into a genuine executive of the Union. The future evolution of the Constitution therefore requires a new revision procedure which will be more flexible and democratic, and which will have the delivery of a more democratic, accountable, and effective Union to the citizens as its top priority.