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THE
ORIGINAL EU CONSTITUTION: 10-POINT SUMMARY
refers
to the 29 October 2004 original version of EU Constitution
The
EU Constitution will...
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...change
the status of the EU from a treaty-based agreement between countries
to a supra-national entity based on its own Constitution (Article
I-1); give the EU legal personality to make legal agreements
in its own right (Article I-7) and formally establish the
primacy of EU laws over those of national governments (Article
I-6). The EU's committment to promoting "economic, social
and territorial cohesion" (Cohesion: "the act of forming
a united whole") is reaffirmed (Article I-3). If ratified,
this Constitution will be the foundation of a centralised EU State;
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...create
a full-time EU President (Article I-22) who will be a considerably
more powerful figure than the existing rotating Council president
yet will not be directly elected by voters or even the European
Parliament;
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...give
the EU the power to 'define and implement' a common foreign and
defence policy (Article I-12), which will "cover
all areas of foreign policy" and which member states will
be required to "actively and unreservedly support in a spirit
of loyalty and mutual solidarity" (Article I-16).
An EU
Foreign Minister will also be created, responsible for conducting
the "common foreign and security policy" (Article
I-28);
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...remove
our elected government's right to make laws unless the EU decides
not to in a vaguely-worded list covering almost all areas (Article
I-14). Areas include the internal market, social policy, agriculture
and fisheries, environment, consumer protection, transport, energy,
'freedom, security and justice', and 'common safety concerns in
public health matters';
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...give
the EU the power to take 'supporting, co-ordinating or complementary
action' in a further range of vaguely-defined areas including
the 'protection and improvement of human health', industry, culture,
education, youth, sport, vocational training, 'civil protection'
and 'administrative co-operation' (Article I-17);
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...give
the EU new powers to 'co-ordinate' economic, employment and social
policies (Article I-15). Article III-210 lists the
almost unlimited areas of social policy where the EU will have the
right to 'support and complement' the activities of member states.
Even the Treasury has commented "Many of the issues being
considered in the EU Convention [which drew up the EU Constitution]
could have far-reaching consequences for the future performance
of EU economies, whether they are part of the euro area or not."
(HM Treasury assessement of the five euro tests, 9th June 2003).
Article III-147 will allow the EU to enforce the 'liberalisation'
of an area of economic activity, from which the EU has already confirmed
public services like health, education and social services cannot
be excluded (report: EUobserver);
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...abolish the national veto in almost all areas, so that
Britain can be increasingly out-voted by other countries on new
EU laws. This will cost us crucial influence in the EU Council of
Ministers. Influence is based on power - without the power to veto
EU laws, we can make our views about them known but there is no
reason why they should be taken into account;
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...allow
movement towards an EU criminal justice system on the continental
model, which doesn't have juries or habeas corpus (the right
to be brought before a judge to have your detention legally and
publicly justified), through harmonisation of national laws
and mutual recognition of judicial and extra-judicial decisions
(Article I-42) and the
power to set common definitions of criminal offences and sanctions
(Article III-271). The role of Eurojust is strengthened from
'co-ordination' of criminal prosecutions to also include their "initiation"
and the extension of Eurojust's "structure, operation, field
of action and tasks" is permitted (Article III-273).
An EU Public Prosecutor's Office is proposed (Article III-274).
The EU would also be given the right to extend the powers of its
rapidly-expanding police force, Europol (Article III-276),
which enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution;
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...include the EU's 'Charter of Fundamental Rights' as Part
II, giving it full legal force, including Article II-112
which sinisterly allows "limitations" of basic
rights "if they are necessary and genuinely meet objectives
of general interest recognised by the Union". Article
II-114 forbids any political campaigning to reverse any aspects
of the Charter. This is the document which former Europe Minister
Keith Vaz said would have 'no more significance than the Beano'
and which, just three years ago, the Government claimed to be completely
opposed to giving legal force;
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...give
all these new powers to the EU while setting in stone the EU's current
undemocratic structure. The unelected European Commission will keep
the sole right to propose new EU laws (Article I-26). The
European Central Bank will stay politically unaccountable through
a committment by all MEPs, EU officials and national governments
"not to seek to influence the...European Central Bank"
(Article III-188). With increased use of Qualified Majority
Voting in the Council of Ministers, the chances of being out-voted
on EU laws and their being imposed on Britain regardless of whether
our government, Parliament and people all oppose them will increase.
Far
from a 'tidying up exercise' of existing treaties and powers as the
government claims, these changes add up to a fundamental change in
the nature of the EU and a significant increase in the centralisation
of decision-making power with an undemocratic elite in Brussels.
As
the architect of the EU Constitution himself has said:
"Our
constitution cannot be reduced to a mere treaty for co-operation between
governments. Anyone who has not yet grasped this fact deserves to
wear the dunce's cap"
Valery
Giscard-d'Estaing - President of the EU Convention
Speech in Aachen accepting the Charlemagne Prize for European integration
29th May 2003
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