EU
PRE-CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
27 November 2003
Debate
over the nature and extent of new continental powers
provided by an as-yet unfinished European Union Constitution
is ongoing. A proposal by Italy to grant broader powers
to an EU Foreign Minister was fought by diplomatic
leaders from other member states, who believe it necessary
to protect the rights of individual governments to
determine their own policy stance. Germany and Greece
are said to be more "federalist", in keeping
with the Italian proposal, whereas Britain and France
are aligned against such provisions.
Even
now, the smaller and newer of the 25 member states
of the expanded EU are fighting to gain more representation
in the policy-generating process, leading up to debate
on the passage of a draft constitution. According
to Deutsche Welle:
Spain
and Poland, awarded a large voting share disproportionate
to the size of their countries by an earlier EU
treaty, are fighting against France and Germany,
who want that share taken away under the new constitution.
Such
alliances are viewed by some as a sign that continental
parliamentary procedures are taking root and prospering,
while others believe they are a sign of old-fashioned
intransigence and a disturbing grandiosity inherent
in integration plans.
Even
if the draft constitution is passed, it will need
to be ratified by each individual member state within
its own political process. In various countries, this
means a vote by the people themselves, which in the
past has spurred widespread opposition to "centralization".
Centralization
is seen by some as the sole viable political means
for placing the European Union in the position of
world policy superpower, even as its overall economy
surpasses that of the United States in gross product.
Issues of sovereignty are not trivial, however, as
many member nations already suffer from regional,
cultural and linguistic tensions within their own
borders. The new constitution will have to consider
all of the competing voices and their want of equal
representation. [For more: DW]
