Outline the Key Elements and Critically Assess the Draft Reform Treaty (Constitutional Treaty) of the European Union.

European Union institutions European Parliament, Council and Commission are already clearly defined.   The major change in this section is that the European Council (made up of Heads of States or government of Member States) is set up as a separate institution.   A President will be appointed for two and a half years and he/she must not hold office within a Member State Government.   The Council of Ministry, made up of the relevant government ministers who meet in various configurations to discuss differing issues remains unchanged.   This is still to be chaired by the Member States holding the Presidency and will continue on a rolling basis.The Treaty also defines how and the way in which the European Union can exercise its powers through laws, framework laws, regulations, decisions and opinions.   In most cases the European Commission would propose a legal act and it would be accepted or not by Qualified Majority Vote.   Section 1 also contains articles relating to Common Foreign & Security Policy and Common Security & Defence Policy, as well as a paragraph on internal policies.A section on the democratic life of the European Union, providing representative associations and churches and non-confessional institutions, the right to “An open transparent regular dialogue”   with the European Union Institutions is also included for the first time.   A framework for the budget of the European Union and decisions relating to the budget and financial management is set out.   The European Union neighbourhood policy and the approach to membership for accession, suspension and voluntary withdrawal is also dealt with in this section.   The second section of the Constitutional Treaty deals with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.   The Charter that was agreed by the European Union in 2000 remains unchanged.   Section 3 covers the Policies and Actions of the Union.   It sets out all the policies and actions of the European Union in all areas of competence.   The most important insertion in this section is “The Union shall ensure consistency between different policies and activities…taking all of its objectives into account and in accordance with the principle of conferring powers.”   The European Union will be committed to ensuring consistency in its policies and activities both now and in the future.   Section 4 includes all the final clauses, including the procedures for adopting and reviewing the Constitution.The Constitutional Treaty was a very ambitious undertaking for the European Union to pursue.   There was a range of issues that would be very difficult to cover satisfactorily for all Member States.   These include the supremacy of European Union law over national law and the range of European Union competences.   There is also the changes made to the voting requirements in the Council from unanimity to qualified majority voting and the creation of the long-term Presidency of the European Council.In countries where the Treaty could be ratified by the parliament the consensus was to vote in favour.   Government officials already having agreed to it in principle at a ceremony in Rome on 29 October 2004.However a number of countries had to hold referendums to ratify the Constitutional Treaty.   In 2005 it was rejected by the Netherlands and France.   A number of other countries including Ireland postponed the referendum.   The Constitutional Treaty however went into a period of reflection.Although the Treaty seemed in principle to be beneficial to the communities within the European Union, individuals were skeptical about becoming swallowed up in an ever increasing powerful European State.It seems almost impossible to come up with a solution that will please all individuals and all communities; however the Constitutional Treaty is a stepping stone and with some adjustments it will be eventually ratified and take Europe and all her citizens forward throughout the twenty-first century. As the twenty-first century dawned it became evident to some of the European Union leaders that the European Union was in need of a major review.   The final declaration of the Treaty of Nice in 2001 highlighted the need for a deeper and wider debate about the future of Europe.The Laeken declaration 2001 established a convention of the future of Europe to “Improve democracy, transparency and efficiency and to prepare a constitution for the European citizens.”   This convention which was held from February 2002 and June 2003 produced a proposal for the ‘Constitutional Treaty for Europe’.In October 2003 an Intergovernmental Conference began the task of approving this draft proposal, however by December an agreement could not be reached.   When the Irish presidency began in 2004 there was a new and invigorated attempt to complete the negotiations.   Although there were arguments and disagreements this was finally achieved and on the 29 October 2004 the 25 member states and three candidate countries signed the Treaty.A new Constitution for Europe had been established, it had still however to be ratified by all 25 member states. The Constitutional Treaty was divided into four sections plus the Preamble. There was disagreement about whether or not there should be a mention to either God or Christianity.   Although neither got included there is still some debate and petitions surrounding the issue.   The first section deals with the definition of the objectives, powers, decision-making procedures and institutions. For the first time the European Union will have a legal personality.   This means it can attend international conventions and conferences as a body rather than as at present Member States.   All the European Union symbols are already in place a flag, motto, currency and European Day would remain and be unaffected by the decision to ratify the Treaty or not.   European citizenship is defined as additional to and not in place of citizenship of a Member country.The Treaty also sets out the competence of the European Union areas and how it can act on the behalf of Member States.   It also defines the competence as exclusive, shared and coordinating.   The Treaty does not change the existing situation but it brings it altogether and clarifies the nature of European Union competence in different policy areas.   The European Union institutions European Parliament, Council and Commission are already clearly defined.   The major change in this section is that the European Council (made up of Heads of States or government of Member States) is set up as a separate institution.   A President will be appointed for two and a half years and he/she must not hold office within a Member State Government.   The Council of Ministry, made up of the relevant government ministers who meet in various configurations to discuss differing issues remains unchanged.   This is still to be chaired by the Member States holding the Presidency and will continue on a rolling basis.The Treaty also defines how and the way in which the European Union can exercise its powers through laws, framework laws, regulations, decisions and opinions.   In most cases the European Commission would propose a legal act and it would be accepted or not by Qualified Majority Vote.   Section 1 also contains articles relating to Common Foreign & Security Policy and Common Security & Defence Policy, as well as a paragraph on internal policies.A section on the democratic life of the European Union, providing representative associations and churches and non-confessional institutions, the right to “An open transparent regular dialogue”   with the European Union Institutions is also included for the first time.   A framework for the budget of the European Union and decisions relating to the budget and financial management is set out.   The European Union neighbourhood policy and the approach to membership for accession, suspension and voluntary withdrawal is also dealt with in this section.   The second section of the Constitutional Treaty deals with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.   The Charter that was agreed by the European Union in 2000 remains unchanged.   Section 3 covers the Policies and Actions of the Union.   It sets out all the policies and actions of the European Union in all areas of competence.   The most important insertion in this section is “The Union shall ensure consistency between different policies and activities…taking all of its objectives into account and in accordance with the principle of conferring powers.”   The European Union will be committed to ensuring consistency in its policies and activities both now and in the future.   Section 4 includes all the final clauses, including the procedures for adopting and reviewing the Constitution.The Constitutional Treaty was a very ambitious undertaking for the European Union to pursue.   There was a range of issues that would be very difficult to cover satisfactorily for all Member States.   These include the supremacy of European Union law over national law and the range of European Union competences.   There is also the changes made to the voting requirements in the Council from unanimity to qualified majority voting and the creation of the long-term Presidency of the European Council.In countries where the Treaty could be ratified by the parliament the consensus was to vote in favour.   Government officials already having agreed to it in principle at a ceremony in Rome on 29 October 2004.However a number of countries had to hold referendums to ratify the Constitutional Treaty.   In 2005 it was rejected by the Netherlands and France.   A number of other countries including Ireland postponed the referendum.   The Constitutional Treaty however went into a period of reflection.Although the Treaty seemed in principle to be beneficial to the communities within the European Union, individuals were skeptical about becoming swallowed up in an ever increasing powerful European State.It seems almost impossible to come up with a solution that will please all individuals and all communities; however the Constitutional Treaty is a stepping stone and with some adjustments it will be eventually ratified and take Europe and all her citizens forward throughout the twenty-first century.