Dear Europeans,

The beginning of 2004 has brought some good news. The debate on the Constitution is far from dead. After the IGC failure in Brussels many voices were pessimistic about its adoption in the near future. However, various European leaders stated recently that the Constitution should be adopted the latest during the Dutch presidency following the European Parliamentary elections.

The Irish presidency presented a very ambitious set of priorities. One among them was the continuation of negotiations on the Constitution. Therefore, the Irish Primer Minister Bertie Ahern has held numerous bilateral meetings with other heads of state and government. His conclusion is that 20 issues remain open for debate, not just two that figured as main points of tension in Brussels.

A trilateral meeting between the leaders of France, Germany and Great Britain will take place in Berlin on the 18th February. The calls for a »core« Europe have intensified, hopefully only to put pressure on some of the governments who were not ready for compromise at the recent Summit. Most of the other governments expressed concerns over such methods of work. However, the issue at stake is not how to move at faster speeds, but how to govern the EU of 25 that will become a reality on the 1st of May. What the Draft constitution offers is a more democratic and efficient EU, where national interests are respected, but do not prevail.

The current Bulletin includes opinions of various political actors and all of them call for the Constitution to be adopted this year. While some of them believe it should be adopted before EU is enlarged to 25, the others believe this should be achived before the European citizens go to the polls in June to elect the new European Parliament.

One thing is clear. The EU needs an institutional reform in order to run smoothly its daily business and avoid a political stalmate when enlarged to 25. The »multi speed Europe« debate could be an issue afterwards. What the citizens deserve today is a Europe that walks united and is able to respond to the challenges ahead. For those brave and wise, the Draft Constitution offers the best deal.

This bulletin will continue to be published on a monthly basis. The next edition will be send to you on 5th March 2004. As usual you are welcome to send us your contributions to mailto:convention@jef-europe.net, deadline for the next issue is 3rd March 2004. You can read all articles of this Bulletin in full length on: http://www.constitutional-convention.net.

Best regards,

Editor in chief

"The men who took Europe forward had three qualities: vision, heart and a strategic realism. Today these are in short supply"

Jacques Santer, former President of the European Commission

20. January 2004

Mr Chairman, Members of the Committee

I am delighted to be present here this morning and look forward to a valuable discussion about the current situation in the Intergovernmental Conference. I will set out briefly the Presidency's intentions and plans, and outline what has happened so far since last month's European Council meeting. But for me the most important aspect of this session is the
opportunity to hear your views and to receive your advice and insights.
Clearly, in our planning for the Presidency, we took full account of the possibility that we would have to take forward the IGC. But, to be frank, we had hoped that it would be possible for final agreement to be achieved in December. That would have left us only with the important, but less complex, task of preparing the final text of the Constitutional Treaty for signature. Of course, a great deal of very good work was done under the Italian Presidency since the IGC began on 4 October, and I will say a little about this in a moment. But, as we all know, it was not possible to complete the IGC at that time.
The European Council therefore gave the Irish Presidency a mandate to consult with partners and to present a report to the Spring European Council, which will be held on March 25th and 26th. We take our responsibilities with the utmost seriousness and I can assure you that we
are already fully engaged in this vitally important task.
Logically, our work falls into two parts. First of all, we must be sure that we fully understand the views and concerns of all our partners, and of all those concerned with the IGC, including of course the Parliament. We have to listen to what everyone has to say and, through active dialogue, tease out the exact nuances of their positions. We want to have available to us the most complete and the most accurate possible picture of the situation.

Full speech is available on-line (in pdf):

http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/speech/sp200104_en.pdf

JANUARY – JUNE 2004

The full programme of the Irish Presidency of the European Union that will preside the Council from January to the end of June 2004 is available on-line at:

http://ue.eu.int/newsroom/LoadDoc.asp?MAX=1&BID=950&DID=78488&LANG=1

The group picture of European leaders gathered in Brussels for the European Summit in December 2003, is available on-line at:

http://ue.eu.int/newsroom/galleryShowPic.asp?Path=/pressData/Pics/photoGallery/&picture={111885A8-BB27-43EA-AA83-BE49C5BF142D}.jpg

JEF fordert Ende der Kerneuropadebatte

Zumindest einen Vorsatz sollten alle europäischen Politiker in der Silvesternacht gefasst haben: die europäische Verfassung endlich zu verabschieden – und einen Schlussstrich unter die unfruchtbare Kerneuropadebatte zu ziehen. Das neue Jahr und mit ihm die irische Ratspräsidentschaft bringen die Chance, den ins Stocken geratenen Verfassungsprozess doch noch zu einem positiven Ende zu führen.

Die JEF lehnt ein Voranschreiten einiger Staaten klar ab. Die nach dem gescheiterten Gipfel als einzig möglicher Ausweg angepriesene Option eines Kerneuropa gefährdet die europäische Integration insgesamt. Eine harte Avantgarde ist als Druckmittel gegenüber den zögernden Staaten sicher nicht geeignet.

· Regierungen müssen noch vor den Europawahlen zu einer Einigung kommen
· Europäische Öffentlichkeit gegen nationale Egoismen mobilisieren
· Föderales Gesamteuropa statt Kerneuropa

Nach dem Scheitern des Brüsseler Gipfels steht der Verfassungsprozess unter erheblichem Zeitdruck.
Kommt es in diesem Frühjahr zu keiner Einigung, so präsentiert sich die EU nicht nur bei den Europawahlen in desaströser Verfassung, es besteht auch die Gefahr, dass langfristig keine EU-Reform zustande kommt. Auf Grundlage des völlig unzureichenden Nizza-Vertrages ist die erweiterte Union aber weder handlungsfähig, noch werden die undemokratischen Entscheidungsverfahren bei den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern Akzeptanz finden.
Die Regierungschefs sind daher nicht aus der Verantwortung zu entlassen. Neben der katastrophalen Leistung in Brüssel haben sie auch zuwenig getan, um den von ihnen mit ausgehandelten Verfassungsentwurf in der öffentlichen Diskussion zur Geltung zu bringen. Das Scheitern von Brüssel
erklärt sich auch aus dem zur Schau gestellten Desinteresse vieler Regierungen an der Konventsarbeit.
Der Verfassungsprozess braucht aber die Unterstützung der Bürgerinnen und Bürger, um sich gegen das chronische Misstrauen zwischen Regierungen durchzusetzen. Die JEF fordert die europäischen Regierungen auf, in der europäischen Öffentlichkeit für den Verfassungsentwurf insgesamt zu werben anstatt auf dem Feld der Stimmengewichtung an nationale Egoismen zu appellieren.
Die europäischen politischen Parteien sollten ihr Bekenntnis zu einer demokratischen Reform der EU gerade angesichts des schwierigen Verfassungsprozesses mit Leben füllen. Die JEF fordert daher umso
nachdrücklicher von den europäischen Parteifamilien die Aufstellung von Spitzenkandidaten für das Amt des Kommissionspräsidenten und Außenministers sowie von EU-Kommissaren.

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

- having regard to the Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,
- having regard to its resolution of 18 December 2003,
- having regard to Rule 37(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. in the light of the statement to Parliament on 14 January 2004 by the President-in-office of the Council, Mr Bertie Ahern; recalling Parliament's strong attachment to the process and outcome of the European Convention, and its disappointment at the failure of the IGC meeting in Brussels in December 2003,

1. Welcomes the positive approach adopted by the new Presidency-in-office of the Council towards concluding the Intergovernmental Conference on the basis of the Convention's Draft Constitution, and urges the IGC to complete its work before 1 May 2004, the date on which the Union is set to enlarge to include the ten new Member States;

2. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the IGC, the Council, the Commission, and the parliaments of the Member States and the of acceding and candidate States.

The Constitutional Affairs Committee sounded a note of alarm on Tuesday when it had a meeting with Council President-in-Office Brian COWEN, the Irish Foreign Minister. MEPs stressed the need to approve a constitutional text before the European elections in June, otherwise the momentum of the draft Constitution produced by the Convention would be lost. Things would then have to start from scratch given the arrival of a new Parliament, followed by a new Commission, and also because of the discussions over the new financial perspective.

Following the failure of talks in Brussels in December, the European Council gave the Irish Presidency a mandate to consult its partners and report back to the Spring Summit on 25 - 26 March. A whole range of bilateral talks have already taken place but Mr Cowen told MEPs that he would be holding an informal discussion with all his counterparts at the General Affairs Council on 26 January. The representatives of Parliament, Commission and the candidate countries would take part. Mr Cowen did not seek to disguise the complexity of the task they faced, saying "there is no agreement on anything so long as there is no agreement on everything", the main issue being the voting arrangements in the Council.

To read the full press release go to:

http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+NR-20040121-1+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S#SECTION2

Europe: adding value, changing quickly

London School of Economics

London, 19 January 2004

Introduction

I feel particularly at home here at the London School of Economics. I was here as an industrial economist under Basil Yamey, so I regard the LSE as one of my intellectual homes. And next time you read in the press about the Brussels bureaucrats, at least you will know there is an LSE man at the helm of the Commission, at least for the next future.
Economics or Politics?
I find it interesting that the debate about the European Union here so often starts by asking whether this is essentially an economic or political enterprise.
There seems to be agreement that an EU based on economics and trade makes sense. But the implication is that the EU should steer clear of anything "political".
Here on the platform at the London School of Economics and Political Science, however, it seems that it might not be so easy to draw clear distinctions.
However, it is clear that the Europe of the single market and the single currency has assumed a stronger political dimension, as a broad area of shared principles and values, and it will assure a more and more political dimension. And consider this as a remarkable result of my mandate.

Brussels, 22. January 2004

JEAN-LUC DEHAENE: ADOPTING THE CONSTITUTION WILL GIVE THE UNION THE IMPETUS IT NEEDS TO FACE THE POST-ENLARGEMENT YEARS

ANDREW DUFF: ORGANISED CIVIL SOCIETY MUST URGE THE MEMBER STATES TO ADOPT A MORE CONSTRUCTIVE APPROACH

At an information and dialogue meeting on the Intergovernmental
Conference, held on 22 January in Brussels on the initiative of the
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the Vice-President
of the European Convention, Jean-Luc Dehaene, and British MEP
Andrew Duff, who is also a member of the Convention, asked European
civil society networks and organisations to continue the active and
constructive role they have been playing throughout the Convention
process.

Mr Dehaene was keen to play down the breakdown of the Intergovernmental
Conference (IGC) held in Brussels in mid-December, pointing out that a broad consensus had now been reached on 90-95% of the provisions of the future Constitution that were still being debated just a few months ago. At the same time he did not make light of the differences persisting between the 25 heads of state or government of the enlarged Union. Contrary to certain claims, he considered that the weighting system for majority voting in the Council of Ministers and the future composition of the European Commission were not the only remaining points on which there was disagreement. For instance, he also identified the doubts raised about the provisions made for budgetary procedures and about the so-called passerelle clause, intended to facilitate future revision of certain parts of the Constitution. He supported increased cooperation within the framework of the Constitution, but was opposed to the idea of an avant-garde developing outside the convention.

The full press release is available at (in pdf):
http://europa.eu.int/futurum/documents/press/pr220104_en.pdf

The European Movement calls for an agreement on the European Constitution
before the first of May

Brussels, 27 January 2004

Introduction:
The failure so far of the Intergovernmental Conference to adopt the European Constitution must not lead to a blockade of the entire constitutional process in the crucial year of 2004.
Enlargement on May 1st, the European elections in June and the investiture of a new European Commission in the autumn are developments which make an agreement on the Constitution all the more important.
The European Movement International emphasises once again that all European countries can meet the challenges of the modern world only by working together within effective, democratic and transparent institutions.
The Constitution drafted by the Convention, using a consultation process unprecedented in its extent and depth, provides the basis for the necessary structural reforms of the EU to respond to these requirements.

Steps to be taken immediately:

The European Movement International calls upon the Irish presidency and the members of the European Council to continue their quest for an agreement on the European Constitution before the 1st May.
It is essential that those issues on which an agreement has already been reached during the IGC are not re-opened and that any further negotiations are concentrated on the core problematic points.

The full press release is available on-line (in *.pdf):
http://www.europeanmovement.org/downloads/Resolution_IGC_engl_27.01.04.pdf

At its meeting on 14 January the Intergroup "European Constitution" called on the heads of states and governments to adopt the European Constitution before the enlargement on 1st of May this year. The enlargement of the European Union would not be accepable without deepening. It would violate all promises of the last years that both historical processes would be dealt with in parallel.

The Intergroup will use its influence by calling on the European Parliament to urge the heads of states and governments at the plenary session on 29 January to come to an agreement on the last controversial points.

13. January 2004

The President of the PES Group in the European Parliament, Enrique BARON, has said that "the most important issue facing the EU over the coming 6 months, which includes elections to the European Parliament, is finding agreement on a constitution and we hope that the Irish Presidency will be able to achieve this."

Mr BARON said that "last week's visit to Dublin by our Group's Bureau - the only such visit by an EP political group - had a very constructive exchange of views with the Irish Government even though they are not members of our political family. We agreed that the priority now is to engage immediately in discussions aimed at finding a way around the impasse encountered at the Brussels Summit. We expressed our support for, and confidence in, the Irish Presidency as it embarks on a difficult diplomatic mission based on what was agreed in Salonika which was itself based on the draft agreed by the Convention."

Mr BARON also informed Mr AHERN that the PES Group regards it essential that the forthcoming negotiations on the financial perspectives "be conducted with clear criteria that allow the Union to undertake enlargement and realise its ambitions regarding the Lisbon Agenda. We cannot undergo the most important phase of enlargement while at the same time reduce our budgetary resources as some member states want.

The full press release can be found on-line:

http://www.socialistgroup.org/gpes/servlet/Main/Communique~2?_wcs=true&lg=en&from=list&id_press_release=2090

The commitment of the Irish Presidency to both enlargement and agreement on a new European Constitution was welcomed today by European Liberal Democrat leader Graham Watson MEP (Lib Dem/UK) in a debate with the Irish Prime Minister in Strasbourg.

Watson argued that it was appropriate that "a country which speaks for the transformative power of the European Union should oversee the enlargement process", but added:

"We should not be tempted to believe that we can separate enlargement from agreement on the instrument designed to make that step possible. Integrating the new member states into the Lisbon process and Schengen cannot hide the fact that without the additional framework of a new constitutional settlement we are simply changing the oil in a Union which needs a new engine. Liberals in this House welcome Mr Ahern's strong commitment to advancing the work of the IGC. December's tempers have cooled. Europe's destiny is in an altogether safer pair of hands. This time Europe's leaders must choose to succeed."

Full press release is available on-line at:

http://www.lymec.org/article.php?sid=237&mode=thread&order=0

20. January 2004

In talks today with the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Council President Cowen, on the future of the Intergovernmental Conference, the European Parliament's delegate to the IGC, Elmar Brok MEP, said the timetable for negotiations over the future European Constitution is of crucial importance. The discussion took place in the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament. "I think we agreed upon, in the Convention draft as well as in the collective awareness of the Intergovernmental Conference, to come to a conclusion in December 2003." Brok agreed the process has to be handled with sensitivity in certain countries, but appealed to the Council Presidency to establish a proposal during bilateral meetings and at the informal IGC meeting next week and to table it at the March summit, in order for the Constitution to be settled before May and the European elections in June.