EU: Martians can sleep a little easier tonight after the President of the Convention on the Future of Europe, Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing, acknowledged that the European Union's competences do not extend to outer space. The draft European constitution establishes and upholds federalism, writes Denis Staunton in Brussels
Mr Giscard was yesterday explaining a reference to EU ambitions to explore outer space, contained in draft articles of a constitutional treaty for Europe.
Mr Giscard's critics will be relieved to learn that there is a limit, albeit extraterrestrial, to the former French president's ambitions. For many, though, the draft articles themselves are evidence that Mr Giscard has hijacked the convention to push through his own grand vision of Europe's future.
The British government's representative, Mr Peter Hain, only had to read the first sentence of the treaty to find a serious problem.
"Reflecting the will of the peoples and the States of Europe to build a common future, this constitution establishes a Union, within which the policies of the Member States shall be co-ordinated and which shall administer certain common competences on a federal basis," it says. The text goes on to say that "the Union shall respect the national identities of its Member States". The very mention of the word "federal" was enough to raise British hackles.
The first 16 articles of the treaty, drawn up by the convention's praesidium this week, set out the definition and the objectives of the Union, the fundamental rights of its citizens and the Union's competences (or powers).
Later articles will spell out in greater detail the division of competences between member-states and the Union, but the constitution makes clear that any competences not explicitly conferred on the Union remain with member-states.
The Union's aim is defined as promoting peace, the Union's values and the well-being of its peoples. "The Union shall work for a Europe of sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and social justice, with a free single market, and economic and monetary union, aiming at full employment and generating high levels of competitiveness and living standards.
"It shall promote economic and social cohesion, equality between women and men, and environmental and social protection, and shall develop scientific and technological advance including the discovery of space.
"It shall encourage solidarity between generations and between States and equal opportunities for all," the text says.
The charter of fundamental rights will form part of the constitution, either as an integral part of the text or as a protocol attached to it.
Mr Giscard made clear yesterday that the choice of where to place the charter was a matter of presentation and that, either way, it would have legal force.
"There is no question but that we want the charter of fundamental rights to be legal and binding," he said.
Some convention delegates were taken aback by the baldness of the treaty's article 9.1, which reads: "The constitution and law adopted by the Union institutions in exercising competences conferred on it by the constitution, shall have primacy over the law of the Member States".
As Mr Giscard pointed out yesterday, the article simply states the current legal position. "This is already established in jurisprudence and case law but we thought it worth mentioning here," he said.
Convention delegates have 10 days to submit comments or amendments to the draft articles and much of the debate is likely to focus on the question of competences - what is the Union's responsibility and what remains within the domain of member-states.
Article 13 states that the Union shall co-ordinate the economic policies of the member-states, adding: "The Member States shall conduct their economic policies, taking account of the common interest, so as to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Union."
The Government is determined that in further articles, it is made clear that economic co-ordination should not extend to tax policy.
Other governments will be concerned by the following article, which refers to the EU's common foreign and security policy.
"Member States shall actively and unreservedly support the Union's common foreign and security policy in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity. They shall refrain from action contrary to the Union's interests or likely to undermine its effectiveness," it says.
Mr Giscard acknowledged yesterday that European divisions over Iraq made the article appear like something of a joke, but he hinted that later articles in the treaty could hold the key to ensuring that EU governments worked together on foreign policy, whether they liked it or not.