A constitution close to citizens” “” “

As expected, the resumption of the work of the Convention on the future of Europe after the summer break coincides with the beginning of its decisive phase. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and Giuliano Amato announced on behalf of the Presidium the presentation of a first draft of the future Treaty, scheduled for the plenary session of 28 and 29 October. This draft, as vice-president Giuliano Amato pointed out, to deflect premature criticism, is only intended to be a point of departure. It will be followed by a more detailed and structured draft at the beginning of next year. Giscard, president of the Convention, has said he is favourable to the idea of a constitutional Treaty “composed of a single text divided into two chapters: the first of constitutional nature and the second containing emendments to the Treaties, or their possibile completion with protocols”. Giscard has also confirmed the intention to submit the final draft of the Convention to the European Council of Salonika on 20-21 June 2003, a circumstance which ought to permit the opening of the intergovernmental Conference and the signing of the new Treaty by December of the same year, during the six months of the Italian presidency. Simplifying the laws. The Convention’s session last week was dedicated to the simplification of EU legislation and procedures (cf. SirEurope no.32 of 12 September 2002 ). The members of the Convention expressed their broad consensus on the need to reduce the number of procedures and to adopt a juridical terminology corresponding to that current in the member states. In particular, the tendency that is emerging is in favour of extending the field of application of qualified majority voting and limiting to the maximum the requirement of unanimity. There is also broad support for the elimination of the procedure of cooperation and the maintenance (or reinforcement) of the procedure of co-decision between the European Parliament and Council on questions of general scope. The plenary session was also the occasion to anticipate the debate on subsidiarity: Spanish MEP Mendez de Vigo, chairman of the working group on “subsidiarity”, described the progress of the work to the assembly. Without wishing to create new institutions for the control of the correct application of the principle of subsidiarity, the working group is preparing a three-phase plan, providing for the full involvement of national Parliaments both in the system of “rapid alert” in case of violation, and in the possibility of accepting the European Court of Justice as a last resort. The next plenary session will take place in Brussels on 3-4 October. Creating an open and tolerant Europe. “The hope – commented Msgr. Noël Treanor, general secretary of the Commission of the episcopates of the European Community, in a statement to SirEurope – is that the religious dimension of life, the cultural heritage of the religions, may have the role it deserves with a view to guaranteeing the real tolerance of differences. The objective is the creation of a Europe as an open and tolerant society. I hope that these religious foundations may be accorded due recognition, also thanks to the contributions of the Churches”. Nonetheless, Treanor added, “I ask myself: have our political leaders and the members of the Convention on the future of Europe really taken on board the fact that the line of demarcation between religious credo and secularization has been largely overcome? We find ourselves in a new context that requires new forms to govern society. The need for the ethical dimension is felt, and the future European Constitution will be all the closer to citizens the more it fosters this dimension”. G.A.G.