Fellow European citizens, there is a lot of soccer in the news these days. So maybe you haven't noticed that two days ago, the European Council has agreed on the final draft of the constitutional treaty. Europe will finally get its very own constitution. Hooary! Why don't we open a bottle of champagne and celebrate? Do we even care? Should we?
Let's just have a quick look at this final draft:
(Thanks to
Alexander for pointing out that these links still point to the 2003 version of the draft. There seems to be no HTML version of the latest version as of today.)
Flipping through the pages, you'll notice that it consists of roughly 265 pages and more than 60,000 words. Compare that to the 4,600 words of the U.S. Constitution and you should not be too surprised why the EU needs to employ so many bureaucrats and civil servants. Well, ok, maybe it's not fair to just compare those two documents, especially since the new EU Constitution is still much shorter than the existing treaties it is supposed to consolidate.
So what's in there for you?
Article 2: The Union's values
The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. These values are common to the Member States in a society of pluralism, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination.
That doesn't sound too bad, in fact I hope all current member states and all countries on the waiting list share a common interpretation of these values.
Article 3: The Union's objectives
1. The Union's aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.
2. The Union shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, and a single market where competition is free and undistorted. [...]
Free and undistorted competition. Let's stop here for a minute. Does that rule out
Sarkozy-style
price cuts? Or does that even encourage similar actions? That would be an intereseting debate I assume.
[...] The Union shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.
... "rich linguistic diversity." Interpreters of this world, come to Europe. Especially if you speak both Maltanese and Latvian.
Other interesting factlets:
Article 46: The principle of participatory democracy
[...] 4. No less than one million citizens coming from a significant number of Member States may invite the Commission to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Constitution.
Significant number. Don't you just love wishy-washy definitions?
Article 50: Protection of personal data
1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her.
And every state has the right to collect as much data as they wish. I guess. We have to fight terrorism after all, right?
Article 59: Voluntary withdrawal from the Union
1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the European Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.
But no reason to paint the devil on the wall. Not yet. Because in order for all this to become effective, the draft needs to be ratified by all member states. Many countries are either required or expected to hold a referendum on the subject, including (surprise!) the UK. In Germany, we, the People, can't do much besides elect a new government. So make sure to ask your representative whether he or she is in favor of the proposed constitution or not.
As homework for tomorrow, please prepare a short essay describing the differences between the European Council, the Council of Ministers, and he European Commission.
Maybe I am going to Ikea this week. Maybe not. It depends. It's complicated. See, there is this chair that I really like. Designed by 
