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The European Constitution
Short history
 First session of the Convention on the Future of Europe
Members of the European People's Party in the Convention
Brussels, 28 February 2002
The European Council agreed in Nice in December 2000 to revise the EU Treaties with a view to adapting them for the enlargement of the Union, and also to initiate a new and broader debate on the future of the European Union.
The EPP-ED Group has always insisted on the need of a Convention meeting to consider this future revision of the Treaties. It was prompted by two factors: the repeated failures of recent Intergovernmental Conferences and the success of the Convention that resulted in the adoption of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Laeken Summit decided in December 2001 to pursue for the first time this method of a more open an democratic forum, opened to all the parties involved in the debate on the future of the Union.
It will be the task of the Convention to consider the key issues for the Union's future development: division of competences, simplification of instruments, institutional architecture and the way "towards a Constitution for European citizens", to try to identify the various possible responses, and to present them to the the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference which will then take the final decisions.
The Convention on the future of the European Union comprises representatives from the European Parliament, national parliaments, the European Commission and the Governments of the Member States of the European Union and each of the candidate countries. The Conventions discussions and all official documents will be open to the public.
The mandate of the Convention on Future of Europe ended on 11 July 2003 with the adoption of the final draft for an E.U. Constitution.
After 16 months of intensive debates the 105 members of the Convention representing the European Parliament, the Commission, the Council of Ministers, national governments and parliaments, reached an overall agreement and proposed a text which will be the basis of the work for an Intergovernmental Conference which will take place in autumn.
The European People's Party Group in the Convention contributed greatly to the debate with several contributions and proposals elaborated during Group meetings.
The final agreement is considered by EPP leaders as "a leap forward" (H.-G. Poettering) and as "a great achievement" (E. Brok).
However, they have also expressed some reserves on the issues of the Christian heritage of the Union and restrictions on the use of majority voting in the Council of Ministers.
The EPP Group in the Convention considers that on the basis of the present final text the Intergovernmental Conference can be concluded by the end of the year, under the Italian Presidency.
Elmar Brok, Chairman of the EPP Group to the Convention, assessment (   ) of the results.
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