Germany has included the goal of having a constitution for the
European Union by 2009 in a draft declaration to mark the 50th
anniversary of the bloc, the Handelsblatt newspaper
reported Thursday.
The German government has prepared a so-called Berlin
Declaration, which has been sent to the other 26 EU member
states for approval and is to be signed at a giant birthday party
for the bloc in the German capital Sunday.
Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said on Wednesday that
Berlin was confident the draft document would win the support of
the entire union.
The weekend celebrations will mark the 50th anniversary of the
signing of the Treaty of Rome which established the
European Economic Community, the forerunner of the EU.
Germany is hoping to relaunch the drive to ratify an EU
constitution with the signing of the Berlin Declaration,
which is intended to spell out values and principles that unite the
bloc.
Handelsblatt said that it had obtained a copy of the
text, in which Germany states the goal of ending the constitutional
crisis in two years, before elections for the European Parliament
in 2009.
But the draft does not mention the word "constitution," so as to
not provoke supporters of a more watered-down treaty.
The report noted that several states objected to including the
date 2009, deeming it too early.
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It added that the inclusion in the declaration of a "European
social model" that can only be preserved by a united bloc was also
a source of controversy.
Britain in particular has raised objections to the inclusion of
such a phrase in a European constitution.
The Berlin Declaration will be signed by German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission Chief Jose Manuel
Barroso and the head of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert
Poettering, at the EU summit Sunday.
(China Daily via agencies March 23, 2007)
