EUROPEAN CONVENTION: SUMMARY OF THE DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY DRAWN UP BY THE CONVENTION.

The draft Constitutional Treaty consists of four parts, preceded by a Preamble and accompanied by a series of Protocols and Declarations. It represents a considerable simplification on existing texts since by creating a single legal personality for the EU, all the former Treaties are merged - with the exception of Euratom, which is the object of a Protocol - with the various provisions of the Community acquis reorganised to take account of the abolition of the pillar structure of the former treaties.

The Preamble - Europe's religious and humanist heritage

The logic behind the Preamble, which opens with a quotation from the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, is that the majority of Constitutions feature such introductions, though it also responds to a political opportunity. To the extent that the Preamble to the Charter of Fundamental Rights - integrated as Part II of the Treaty - was not renegotiable, but that many Convention members from the European People's Party, notably Germans, Italians and Poles, demanded a more explicit reference to Europe's Christian heritage, it was agreed that there should be a general preamble to the Constitution. In spite of the keen support of churches and a direct intervention by the Vatican, this battle was finally lost. The only concession is a recognition that the "values" of Europe's "religious" heritage "are always present" along with those of its cultural and humanist heritage. By way of compensation, Article 51 of Part I guarantees respect for the status of churches.

Part I- the competences of the Union

Part I (Constitutional architecture) alone comprises nine Titles. The principal innovation is the clarification of the competences of the EU through Title III, which clearly lists exclusive competences (Art.12), shared competences (Art.13) and additional competences (Art.16). The co-ordination of economic and employment policies (Art.14) and Common Foreign and Security Policy (Art.16) are covered by separate articles but in the context of Title III on competences. This distinction was demanded by the United Kingdom in exchange for its endorsement of the removal of the pillar structure and recognition of CFSP as an EU competence.

Title IV on the Institutions was naturally the toughest to negotiate given the demand of big Member States for a non-rotating Presidency of the European Council, which required other adjustments to maintain the balance of the institutional triangle, notwithstanding the need to create mechanisms to make decision-making workable in an enlarged Europe.

The President of the European Council (Art. 21) will be elected for a renewable term of two and a half years, by qualified majority of the Heads of State and Government. He may not hold national office but may be a member of another European institution. The Council President will prepare the European Council, and provide...