EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: CONSTITUTION IS NOT DEAD, MEP EXPERT COMMITTEE SAYS.

Along with Johannes Voggenhuber (Greens/EFA, Austria), Mr Duff is drafting a report for the committee entitled "The period of reflection: the structure, subjects, and context for an assessment of the debate on the European Union", which should be finalised in time to be voted on at the December plenary in Strasbourg. The report will set out the EP's position on the debate on the future of Europe during the "period of reflection" agreed by EU leaders in June when, following the two No votes in France and the Netherlands, many countries decided to put planned referendums on hold for fear of a wave of No votes. The European Commission has been asked to play a leading role in organising the debate at national and European level and will be holding a seminar on the subject on September 20. The UK Presidency is holding an informal meeting of EU leaders on October 27-28 on the future of Europe but this is intended to focus on the European model of social and employment protection and not on the fate of the Constitution.

EP should play leading role in debate.

There was a strong view among MEPs on the Constitutional Affairs Committee that the EP should take the lead in the debate on the future of Europe. Mr Duff said the Commission was "poorly prepared" to take the political lead, while the Council was "as close to paralysis in solving the political and constitutional crisis as I can recall". The Parliament therefore had a good chance to step up and steer and manage the period of reflection, he maintained. Alexander Stubb (EPP-ED, Finland) commented that the UK Presidency could not be expected to do anything on this issue.

Mr Duff said that, from the EP's perspective, the debate should have a clear objective to avoid becoming "nebulous or platitudinous". That objective, as far as he and his fellow draftsman were concerned, was to "try and salvage the Constitution", which, he pointed out, had been ratified by 14 member states and around which a strong consensus had formed. The period of reflection should aim to "deepen and democratise" that consensus, he said.

He then ran through the six possible scenarios for proceeding. These are: 1) abandoning the Constitution; 2) obliging France and the Netherlands to vote again; 3) avoiding Treaty change and bringing in reforms by changing the rules of procedure or other ad hoc solutions; 4) lowering the threshold for ratifying the Treaty; 5) discarding the Constitution and agree a new treaty by...