Une Constitution européenne, si et seulement si...

Abstract

A European Constitution: if, and only if..., by Sylvie Goulard and Christian Lequesne The adoption of a European Constitution can be a qualitative leap for the European Union as it does not consist in yet another treaty resulting from the "old" intergovernmental method. In this paper, the authors propose a new method for the adoption of a European Constitution. The French National Assembly and the German Bundestag should set the process in motion by organizing a common session to which other national parliaments are invited to debate and produce reports. A group of Member States, including France and Germany, should then ask a body of independent experts to produce a draft text. This group should include representatives from candidate countries. The next step should be the examination of the draft text in a Convention opened to the Member States that favour the deepening of the integration process. This Convention would be comprised of members of European and national parliaments, government representatives, and experts. In approving the final text, the choice should be between ratification at the European or national levels. This paper underlines the fact that the constitutional process should aim at the reform of the institutions rather than an altering of the balance of the Rome Treaty between Member States and the supranational bodies such as the Commission, the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice.