EU CONSTITUTION: A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR STRENGTHENING SOCIAL EUROPE, SAY TRADE UNIONS.

ETUC had been particularly worried that the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is presently a non-binding declaration appended on to the Nice Treaty, would not be incorporated into the Constitution (see issue 2876). The UK was particularly unreceptive to the idea of the Charter taking on more legal weight, for fear that it would undermine national strike laws. But it now looks as though the Charter will form an integral part of the Constitution after all.

With this key problem now out of the way, the ETUC says it can support the Constitution, and particularly welcomes:

- A strong commitment to European social dialogue.

- Gender equality and the rights of minorities identified as shared EU values.

- Formal recognition of the annual Tripartite Social Summit and the role of social partners.

- Full employment as an EU objective.

But there are still areas that ETUC is not so happy with. The biggest concern is the lack of coherence between Part I (the main provisions) and Part III (relating to the application of these provisions) of the text. For example, in Part I the Constitution speaks of "full employment", but in Part III reduces...