nEUrosis

Don’t mention the constitution

May 6th, 2007 by enghis

Since assuming the EU presidency four months ago, Germany has made it clear that one of its major goals is to revive the EU Constitution (more precisely, the constitutional treaty) blocked at the French and DutchCould the non turn into a nein? referenda in 2005. Those pro-EU Constitution who nurtured hopes for the wording of the Berlin Declaration concerning the necessity to revive the deadlocked constitutional process were fairly disappointed by the careful text shaped by the German Presidency: in order to accommodate the skeptical EU members, the Germans decided not to mention at all the word Constitution in the Berlin Declaration. Rather, they expanded on the necessity to put the EU foundations on a new solid institutional basis, leaving up to everyone’s own interpretation the understanding of this basis. Still the Presidency is working backstage to keep the Constitutional debate on table so that the June summit will conclude with the successful re-launch of the Constitution.

Despite adopting a rather non-transparent way of conducting negotiations on the treaty, Germany’s initiative deserves some praise. The EU in its current format of twenty seven Member States needs to reshape its institutional framework. Moreover, if it really wants to become increasingly vocal on the international stage, the EU needs to mend the divergences between its Member States and talk externally with a single voice.

What other country apart from Germany could have assumed the role to put the Constitution back on track? As the largest EU Member State, with the world’s third biggest economy, Germany has all the credentials to be the most appropriate Member State to seek the re-launch of the Constitutional debate. This would be the general conclusion one might reach when analyzing the current situation within the EU.

However, there is an aspect that the German Presidency had been careful not to mention: the EU Constitution has not yet been ratified by Germany! Although the German Parliament has largely approved the text, the German president has not signed the document, and without this the ratification process is not complete. Following a request made by a German MP to check to what extent the EU Constitution reduces the provisions of the German Constitution, the Karlsruhe-based Constitutional Court stated that it will not provide an answer on this issue until a final decision on the fate of the Constitution is adopted at the EU level. Therefore, despite portraying itself as the staunchest supporter of the EU Constitution, Germany itself did not finish the ratification process. And the finalisation of ratification may be more than just a formality - recent public opinion polls in Germany revealed that if the Constitutional Treaty would be subject to a referendum, the vote would be negative. Thanks to the Germany’s own constitutional provisions, Berlin officials do not need to worry about a negative referendum on the EU Constitution, but still, the dilemma remains: how does Germany feel in the current awkward situation of strongly advocating for a EU Constitution, but whose ratification process did not end yet?

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