The European Council meeting at Laeken decided to convene a Convention with the mandate of examining the fundamental questions relating to the future of the Union and formulating possible responses. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former President of the French Republic from 1974 to 1981, was designated President of the Convention. He will be assisted by two vice-presidents: Giuliano Amato, former Italian premier, and Jean-Luc Dehaene, former Belgian premier. The Convention will be composed of a representative of the Heads of State and of Government for each member State, two representatives of the national Parliaments for each member State, sixteen MEPs and two representatives of the Commission. The representatives of the candidate countries will participate in the Convention on the same conditions, but without the possibility of opposing any final consensus. The Convention will also have a Presidium, formed by the President, the two Vice-Presidents, the representatives of the Governments that will assume the Presidency of the EU in the course of the Convention’s work, two representatives of the national Parliaments, two Members of the European Parliament and two representatives of the Commission. The status of observers will be accorded to six representatives of the Committee of the Regions, three representatives of the economic and social Committee, three representatives of the social partners and the European Mediator. The work of the Convention will begin on 1st March 2002 and last for no longer than a year. The method of work will be established by the Convention itself on the basis of the contribution of the public debate: the Presidium will be able to consult external experts and set up special work groups. The Convention’s debating sessions, which will be held in Brussels, will be public, as will its official documents. The Convention is called to approve a final document. It will provide a basis of negotiation for the intergovernmental Conference which will then have to take the final decisions. This document, according to the Council, may either present various options of reform or draw up specific recommendations. The Secretariat of the Convention is assigned to the General Secretariat of the Council, to which may be added experts of the Commission and of the European Parliament. The Council decided to open a wide-ranging forum to enable civil society to express its views.
