Members of the European Convention have their last chance to make amendments to the draft Constitution today. They have achieved much in the last sixteen months, but there is still a crucial thing to be done.
This draft Constitution is surely not the final word on the democratic unification of Europe. There will be further stages in the process along the way to improve the governance of the Union and to strengthen its foreign and security policy. So amendments to the Constitution will have to be made anyway.
Future constitutional amendments in a Union of 25 or more member states will be almost impossible if they depend on unanimity. Even if the proposed amendments themselves are uncontroversial, the opportunity to cast a veto can be misused to achieve other ends, to the detriment of the democracy and efficiency of the Union as a whole.
Therefore UEF asks members of the Convention to support majority voting for future amendments to the European Constitution. Perhaps the majority needs to be larger for such amendments than for normal legislation, but establishing the principle of majority voting rather than unanimity - also in the constitutional amendment procedure - is a democratic necessity.
The interests of the member states and their citizens are best served by shared democracy rather than national blackmails with the threat of veto.
Contact: Bruno Boissière, Tel.: +32-2.508 30 32
