New EU constitution plan to be published
Plans for a new constitution for Europe were being published today with references to a federal Europe dropped.
Former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing, drew up the new blueprint to streamline the European Union in readiness for 10 new member states next year.
The idea of renaming the EU as the “United States of Europe” has also been banished from the text.
Today’s launch of the draft text marks the end of more than a year of work by a 105-strong convention of national government ministers, Euro-MPs, MPs and the European Commission.
But it marks the start of intense negotiations between member states on the final content of the constitution.
