On solid foundations” “

Rome, Maastricht and now Rome once again, not forgetting Brussels, Strasbourg, Laeken… The EU Treaty signed in the Italian capital on Friday 29 October is the result of a long process. It began a half century ago with the foundation of the EEC (European Economic Community), which became the EU at the beginning of the 1990s. One of those who best know the new Constitution is Jacques Ziller , former lecturer in public law at the University of Paris 1-The Sorbonne and now professor at the European University Institute in Florence. An expert in constitutional and European law, he followed the work of the Convention on behalf of the Committee of the Regions. Does this Constitutional Treaty represent a turning point in the construction of the European “common home”? “I am convinced that the signing of the Constitution on the Campidoglio in Rome is a milestone in our history as a European community. But I must add straight away that this will also depend on the successive process of ratification of the Constitution and implementation of the provisions contained in it. In 1957 the Treaties of Rome established the EEC and Euratom (European Community for Atomic Energy), but behind these treaties there already lay the consolidated experience of co-operation between the six founder states, which had created the ECSC, the European Coal and Steel Community, six years earlier. In the same way we now have a Constitution that rests on the solid foundation of the EEC and the Treaty of Maastricht, on the institutions and policies of the European Union. We are therefore proceeding towards a more political Europe, based on the concept of citizenship”. Does it mean that Brussels and EU institutions are closer to citizens? “I would say so. The insertion in the Constitutional Treaty of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, approved in Nice in 2000, is, for example, a fact of momentous importance. Hitherto it was considered a mere ‘declaration’, while now it is recognized as of constitutional relevance. The protection of citizens’ rights assumes a dual aspect. First, it is possible to identify exactly what are the rights guaranteed within the EU and what are not. Second, each time an EU measure or policy is launched, it will have to be verified whether it respects these rights”. In what other ways is the increased value of citizenship expressed? “We could cite the fact that a more important role is assigned to the European Parliament in the process of forming EU legislation: it has de facto become co-legislator together with the Council. Rather the same as what happens in a two-chamber Parliament… But the Constitution tends altogether to delineate with greater precision the features of a representative and participative democracy”. For foreign policy, as for other sectors including taxation, on the other hand, the Constitution maintains the rule of unanimity. How can Europe hope to play a role on the international stage? “In foreign policy too progress has been made: it’s enough to think of the introduction of the office of EU Foreign Minister. But I am more than ever convinced that a foreign policy of international stature is not created as a result of a treaty and that with the principle of majority things would not change much. The problem, as I see it, is that so long as there are national states and so long as these continue to play a significant role in the Union, there will always be many different, and often diverging, foreign policies. To improve this situation, I think we should start out from the establishment of a common EU ‘foreign service’, which could count on the support of the Commission, the High Representative for External Policy and member states and which would involve senior administrators of various nationalities”. Will Turkey become a member of the Union? “If the question is examined from a purely geographical point of view, I would say that Turkey is undoubtedly a European country. Just as it is European from an historical point of view: there has always been a vicinity, a community of events with the old continent. Not even religion seems to me an obstacle, in the sense that no ‘confusion’ exists in Turkey between State and Church, between faith and politics. I think however that the real problem is of a social and cultural nature. Turkey today has a demographic development very different from ours; it has different living standards and different levels of economic development. Moreover, the anomalous relation between government and the armed forces would have to be resolved. The EU, in its negotiations with Ankara, must take into consideration all these situations and take a far-sighted political decision”.