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All 25 European Union (EU) member countries have agreed in Brussels on a final draft of the new European constitution. Ironically, the stunning anti-Europe vote in the recent EU parliamentary elections probably proved to be the needed catalyst for sudden agreement. Now all EU member nations must seek approval from their national parliaments by December 2006. In addition, Britain and other countries have decided to hold national referenda, also putting approval to their individual citizens.
But what does this new constitution actually do? Noted conservative Daily Telegraph commentator Ambrose-Evans Pritchard concedes: "It brings together 450 million people from 25 states, embracing all the major strands of European culture, in a rich, peaceful and democratic union under one supreme legal document—without a mention of God" (June 19, emphasis added throughout). It also supersedes the founding document, the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Single European Act (1986), the Maastricht Treaty of European Union (1992) and other formal agreements at Amsterdam (1997) and Nice (2000).
How will this new constitution affect the national sovereignty of member countries? Although British Prime Minister Tony Blair has specifically stated that British national sovereignty is still intact in certain key areas like foreign policy and national defense,the European constitution itself broadly states: "This constitution shall have primacy over the laws of the Member states" (Article I-5).
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Reagan, Ronald: