EUROPEAN CONVENTION: DRAFT CONSTITUTION TO GO TO EUROPEAN COUNCIL.

Almost unanimous support.

Whilst Inigo Mendes de Vigo (Spain), speaking for the European Parliament, encouraged Convention President Valery Giscard d'Estaing to present this text in Salonika, Rene Van der Linden (Netherlands) of the national parliaments component welcomed a "particularly positive outcome" representing a "magnificent success for the Convention". Also welcoming the manifest progress achieved after sixteen months of work "thanks to the Convention method" and "despite 28 parties being involved", European Commission representative Michel Barnier emphasised that "28 nations keen to maintain their differences whilst sharing sovereignty have succeeded for the first time in drafting a constitution". Only Ana Palacio (Spain) began her intervention by mentioning that "the Spanish Government harbours reservations over the institutional proposals contained in the President's text". However, she did go on later to describe the text as "a success" as it "clarifies the allocation of competences, permits not only the conservation of the acquis but also necessary evolution for the future, abolishes pillars, lays the foundations for a hierarchy of standards, hoists high the banner of fundamental rights and signals a shift from a market to an area of citizenship". Even Danuta Hubner (candidate country governments, Poland) on whose initiative a letter recommending the maintenance of Nice Treaty provisions on qualified majority voting was signed jointly by eighteen countries the previous day, expressed her support for the text.

Many were effusive in their praise (with the exception of Jens Peter Bonde - European Parliament, Denmark), Henning Chritophersen (Government, Denmark) speaking on behalf of the Governments of the 28 Member State and candidate country representatives, Hildegard Puwak (candidate country governments, Romania), speaking for the Socialists, and Elmar Brok (Germany) on behalf of the EPP expressing their conviction that the draft Constitution is an "unprecedented success". Taking care to salute a "major advance", they highlighted the removal of...