Giscard welcomes adoption of draft EU treaty

MOOD AT EUROPEAN CONVENTION: Outside the European Parliament's debating chamber, the canapés were wilting in the heat and the Bollinger was getting flat. Inside, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was preparing to declare a consensus at the Convention on the Future of Europe in favour of his draft EU constitution.

For more than two hours, members of the convention, who had spent much of the past 16 months vilifying Mr Giscard, were queuing up to praise him and to endorse his constitution.

First to speak was the Spanish conservative MEP, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, representing the European Parliament. Twenty-four hours earlier, Mr Mendez de Vigo had been part of a last-minute effort to unravel a hard-won compromise on reforming EU institutions but now he was oozing harmony and good will. "This was an historic undertaking. I've enjoyed it, Mr President," he said.

The Dutch politician, Rene van der Linden, welcomed the draft on behalf of national parliamentarians. He acknowledged that the constitution did not contain all the innovations he had hoped for but claimed that it would make Europe more democratic.

"Citizens will see that the Union is more effective. I am convinced I will be able to sell this at home," he said.

The Spanish foreign minister, Ana Palacio, who spoke for national government representatives, did her best to join in the general mood of acclamation. She admitted that Spain was prepared to use its veto to block one of the constitution's key elements, a change in the way a qualified majority is calculated, but praised the draft none the less.

"This text is a legal revolution without precedent. We are experiencing the transition from a Europe of markets to a Europe of the citizens," she said.

Representatives from the Commission and from Europe's main political "families" sounded a similarly upbeat note. On behalf of the new member-states, the Slovenian parliamentarian, Alojz Peterle, said the convention had shown that a united, enlarged Europe can be successful.

"Today is Friday the 13th but it is not a Black Friday," he said. "It is one of the brightest days Europe has ever seen."

The French foreign minister, Mr Dominique de Villepin, declared that the convention had achieved what none of the member-states could have achieved alone. His German counterpart, Joschka Fischer, said to loud applause that the convention showed that there was no "old or new Europe, only our Europe".

The Austrian Green MEP, Johannes Voggenhuber, one of Mr Giscard's most consistent critics, made one of the most gracious speeches in praise of the former French president.

"In the end, you were not the Jupiter of this convention, delivering his own baby. You have been a midwife to this convention - the sort of task that Socrates would have required. I thank you and you have indeed earned my respect," he said.

Almost alone among the speakers, the Danish MEP, Jens-Peter Bonde, sounded a critical note, warning that European citizens will be "the real losers of this constitution". He said that citizens will have no possibility of amending EU legislation and will be governed by an institution, members of which they will neither elect nor be able to oust from power. He called for an EU-wide referendum to give European citizens a chance to have their say on Europe's future.

But by the time Mr Giscard rose to speak, it was clear that he had achieved what many had thought impossible by uniting most of the convention behind his plan for Europe's future.

"We have combined idealism with innovation. The new basis is clear, solid and democratic," he said.

He said he would present the constitution to EU leaders in Thessaloniki next week and would advise them to adopt most of the text unchanged. "This result is imperfect but it is more than could have been hoped. Let us agree together to enter the new Europe," he said to a standing ovation.

As the applause died away, the strains of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, the EU's anthem, came faintly from a tinny public address system. Everyone remained standing, some of the Irish delegation slouching a little and a few of the British fidgeting uncomfortably. But Mr Giscard stood proudly erect, looking straight ahead into the European future he has helped to design.