EU: Over 1,000 amendments have been submitted to Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing's draft first 16 articles of the proposed European Union constitution, the convention heard yesterday.
Many object to Mr Giscard's inclusion of an explicit reference to a "federal" Europe. However, the French Foreign Minister, Mr Dominique De Villepin, backed the former French president, arguing the constitution's first article "needs to keep the emblematic reference to an ever-closer union between the peoples of Europe, because this is a guarantee for the furtherance of European integration".
"But I would also like to introduce into this article the notion of a federation of nation states. This would show the synthesis of the European project," he said.
Opposition to the draft articles has also come from Rome where the Pope has said the absence of a reference to "God" is wrong and does not reflect Europe's Christian heritage.
Yesterday's meeting of the Convention in Brussels was dominated, however, by the Iraq crisis.
France and Germany appealed for the EU to get back to the basics of "ever-closer union" despite the splits over Iraq that are now threatening to tear the bloc apart.
Mr de Villepin and his German counterpart, Mr Joschka Fischer, told the session that the Iraq crisis showed starkly the need for common action on the world stage.
"Only by working together can we as a European Union prove our worth in the 21st century. The present crisis shows that this is a bitter truth of power politics," Mr Fischer told the 105-member convention..
Mr de Villepin said: "I think we need to have a very detailed reflection on what should be the place of the European Union in the world,"
Some delegates are arguing for the convention to extend its work beyond June, possibly up to Christmas but Mr Fischer argued strongly against any prolongation.
- (Reuters)