European Union leaders hailed the EU's first draft constitution today as a "clearer, simpler" legislative backbone for the bloc, which is set to nearly double in size in coming years.
Former French president Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing ceremonially handed over a blue, leather-bound copy of the draft, prepared by a 105-member forum over 16 months, to the political chiefs on the second day of their summit in Greece.
Mr Giscard (77), said the document struck a delicate balance between the interests of member states and the EU institutions, and urged leaders not to lobby for wholesale changes.
But with key members such as Spain, Austria, Portugal and Britain all expressing major reservations on issues such as voting rights and the erosion of national sovereignty, the document is in for a bumpy ride.
The 15 current and 10 future EU member states will adopt the final wording of the constitution during an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) that will begin in Italy in October and end by May next year.
The draft represents a thorough shake-up of the EU's institutions, criticised as bureaucratic and inefficient. Reforms include the appointment of a long-term president of the European Council, which groups national leaders, replacing the current system in which the presidency rotates among all member states, regardless of size, every six months.
It also envisages a slimmed-down executive European Commission, a new EU foreign minister and an extension of majority voting at the expense of the national veto.
The draft calls for a simpler voting system in which a decision would pass if supported by at least half of all member states, representing at least 60 percent of the EU's population, a departure from the current system which can favour larger states.
Acknowledging the tensions between Europe and the US over Iraq, the final summit declaration said transatlantic relations remain "of fundamental importance in every domain not only for the two sides but also for the international community".
The summit also escaped disruption by anti-capitalist protestors who had threatened to storm the site of the meeting.
Despite the intention of anti-capitalist protestors to disrupt the summit, barely 5,000 managed to get within a mile of the site.
Police fired tear gas in the mid-afternoon at stone-throwing anarchists but no arrests or injuries were reported.