ROME, 5 October 2003 — European Union leaders agreed yesterday that a new constitution which they aim to finalize in the next few months will be a “vital step” toward closer European ties.
In a joint declaration, they also pledged to boost the Union’s role on the world stage as it expands from 15 to 25 members next year, and develop a “strong and balanced transatlantic relationship.
“The adoption of a constitutional treaty represents a vital step in the process aimed at making Europe more cohesive, more transparent and democratic,” said the Declaration of Rome.
The constitution would also make Europe “more efficient and closer to its citizens, inspired by the will to promote universal values above all through cooperation with international multilateral organizations and confirming a strong and balanced transatlantic relationship,” they said.
They also underlined that further integration of the bloc was Europe’s “essential calling.”
“The imminent enlargement constitutes a historical moment which extends the possibility of promoting shared values and of conferring weight and authority to Europe’s role in the world,” it said.
The declaration was agreed by leaders of the 25 current and incoming EU member states, as they launched an intergovernmental conference (IGC) aimed at finalizing the EU’s first constitution.
The current Italian EU presidency hopes that the talks will result in a new Treaty of Rome, echoing the 1957 text which founded the European Economic Community, the EU’s forerunner.
But differences remain on a wide number of points, from voting rights to mentioning God, and analysts forecast that the IGC may stretch on into early next year.
The current Italian EU presidency wants to complete negotiations by December, to pave the way for the new treaty to be signed before European Parliament elections due in June.
The EU draft statement reaffirmed the EU leaders’ “expectation of a conclusion of the constitutional negotiations in advance of the (European elections) in order to allow European citizens to cast their vote in full awareness of the future architecture of the Union.”
Police in Rome apprehended dozens of anti-globalization protesters yesterday as activists set cars on fire and damaged property while European Union leaders were meeting in the Italian capital. Police sources said around 30 youths had been taken in for questioning. One protester was reported injured during street clashes, which also saw youths hurl a smoke bomb against an employment agency and a residential building.
Most of the violence took place well away from where Union leaders were meeting. But police were braced for more violence. At least 9,000 officers were being deployed in the area where leaders were meeting, a picturesque Fascist-era district in southern Rome that was completely cordoned off to traffic.
Meanwhile, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel lashed out at Poland yesterday over its insistence on keeping advantageous EU voting rights, suggesting Warsaw and other incoming EU members had a lesson to learn.
“We know well the agriculture problems that Poland has to contend with, we’re going to help them a lot but they must understand that they can’t have their cake and eat it too,” he said.
He added that he was “not disappointed” by the attitude of future member states. “One just needs to make them understand a number of things. I think there is perhaps a lack of experience, a lack of perspective,” he said.
“I think they still don’t appreciate today that, the more things we do together the better it will be in the long run, the more added value there will be,” he added.
Poland and Spain are standing firm in talks on a new EU constitution on retaining voting rights secured under the 2000 Nice Treaty, which gave them 27 votes compared to 29 for example for Germany, more than twice the size.
