European Constitution
European Constitution : The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was approved at the European Council in Brussels in June 2004, and was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004. The main objectives of the Constitution are to simplify the overlapping series of treaties and protocols providing the current legal Constitution for Europe, and to enhance and streamline decision-making in the European Union (EU). The Constitution is based on the EU's two primary existing Treaties: the Treaty of Rome (1957) and the Maastricht Treaty (1992), as modified by the treaties of Amsterdam and Nice. Before entering into force, the Constitution must be ratified by each Member State. This is likely to take around two years. Ratification takes different forms in each country, depending on the traditions, constitutions and political processes of the country in question. In the event that 80 per cent of the EU Member States have ratified the treaty after two years (i.e. by October 2006), while one or more Member States have "encountered difficulties in proceeding with ratification", the European Council has agreed to reconvene and consider the situation. Although the agreement does not specify what would happen, it remains clear that the Treaty cannot enter into force without being ratified by all parties to it. The Constitution consists of eight parts. No article in the Constitution is entirely new. Each article is based on a provision from the existing treaties (revised to a greater or lesser extent, or taken verbatim), or on a provision of the existing Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. See: Convention on the Future of Europe; Laeken Declaration
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