Resolution adopted by UEF Federal Committee meeting in Brussels, November 20-21, 2004
The Union of European Federalists,
A. Assessment of the Constitution adopted by the Heads of States and Governments
1. Welcomes that the Heads of States and Governments of the 25 member states have come to an agreement on the European Constitution at their summit in June 2004;
2. Underlines that the adoption of this Constitution is an act of great political importance and a symbol towards the political unity of Europe;
3. Is of the opinion that the Constitution represents a considerable progress when compared to the Nice Treaty and that the European Convention made a very decisive contribution to the Constitutional process;
4. Regrets, however, that the final text of the Constitution adopted by the Heads of States and Governments falls a long way behind the Convention's draft Constitution;
5. Welcomes in particular the following achievements of the Constitution;
a. the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights thus making it legally binding,
b. the clarification of the values, principles and objectives that form the common ground for the Europeans,
c. the simplification of the legal and political foundations of the EU construction as well as the clarification of the competences of the EU,
d. the strengthening of the democratic legitimacy of the EU by giving the European Parliament the right to elect the Commission President and the co-decision- power in most of EU legislation,
e. the popular initiative system as a way to involve citizens in EU decision making, f. the creation of the post of a European Foreign Minster and a European diplomatic service,
g. new mechanisms for common activities in the field of security and defence, h. considerable progress on justice and home affairs.
6. Nevertheless criticizes that the Constitution falls short of what is needed in many respects, mainly
a. by not abolishing the unanimity rule in many important fields where more effective decision making and thus majority voting would have been necessary, in particular in foreign, security and defence policy and for the multi-annual financial framework;
b. and by not introducing a procedure what makes the entering into force of the Constitution possible when all but one or two member states have ratified the text;
c. by foreseeing a revision procedure which does not allow the Constitution to evolve in a flexible and efficient way.
B. Ratification of the constitutional Treaty
7. Insists on the need to make known this important move forward to the European citizens and to the parliaments of the member states, with a view to the national ratifications and especially the referenda to be held in several member states;
8. Invites the European Parliament to give its assent on the Constitution as early as possible to give an orientation to national ratification procedures;
9. Invites the European Parliament and the national parliaments to convene a "Congress of the parliaments of the EU" to help to ensure that the Constitution enters into force;
10. Asks the member states to coordinate the dates of the national ratifications by the parliaments and the peoples of the member states, for example by holding joint parliamentary sessions or by holding some of the national referenda in the same period of time in order to stimulate a genuine trans-national debate;
11. Asks the European Commission and especially its incoming Vice-President for Communication Margot Wallström to develop a European-wide information campaign about the achievements of the Constitution.
C. Federalists involvement in the ratification process
12. Commits itself to actively take part in the campaign for the ratification of the Constitution together with the International European Movement, the Young European Federalists and any other European-wide organisation such as ngos, business organisations and trade unions, European political parties;
13. Calls upon the activists of the UEF constituent organisations to form together with the national organisations of the European Movement and JEF a broad coalition with elected representatives on local, regional and national levels and civil society organisations, including political parties, to promote the achievements of the Constitution;
D. Revision of the Constitution and transformation of the EU into a European Federation
14. Calls upon the European Parliament and Heads of State and Government of the member states to
a. create a framework for a democratic and transparent public debate on the Constitution;
b. commit to convening a Constitutional Convention as soon as the European Constitution enters into force in 2007 or 2008 to revise the text and adopt further reforms to strengthen the democratic legitimacy the Union and the effectiveness of its instruments;
c. agree that future amendments to the Constitution should be adopted by qualified majority voting rather than by unanimity;
15. Calls upon the Federalist Intergroup in the European Parliament, the existing Intergroups in the national parliaments and the new Intergroups to be founded by Federalists in the national parliaments in the course of the ratification debate to pass political resolutions in favour of the revision of the Constitution by a new Convention;
16. Repeats its demand that if only one or two member states are unable to ratify the text, the other member states should proceed nevertheless with the entering into force of the Constitution.