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| From left, French President Jacques Chirac, British Premier Tony
Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Malta's Prime Minister
Lawrence Gonzi, Belgium's Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt , and Estonia's
Prime Minister Juhan Parts make their way to the signing ceremony of the
EU Constitution in Rome's Capitoline Hill, Friday, Oct. 29, 2004. European
leaders met Friday amid Renaissance splendor, as well as discord over the
makeup of the next EU executive, to sign the first EU constitution meant
to give the union a sharper international profile and speed up
decision-making in a club now embracing 25 nations. [AP] |
 |
| Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (L) and Foreigner Minister
Karel De Gucht sign the EU Constitution in the 'Orazi and Curiazi' hall at
the Campidoglio, the political and religious centre of ancient Rome, today
home of Rome's city hall, October 29, 2004.
[Reuters] |
The treaty was the result of 28
months of sometimes acrimonious debate between the 25 EU governments and now
faces ratification in national parliaments. At least nine EU nations also plan
to put it to a referendum, increasing chances that it may not take effect in
2007 as scheduled.
A "no" result in any country would stop the constitution in its tracks.
The EU leaders signed the document at the Campidoglio, a
Michaelangelo-designed complex of buildings on Rome's Capitoline Hill, along
with the leaders of Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Croatia — four candidates for
EU membership.
French President Jacques Chirac told reporters the constitution deepens "the
roots of peace and democracy on our continent. For centuries and centuries we
have fought each other and we have paid heavily with tears, blood, and waste."
The event was overshadowed by a dispute over the makeup of the next EU
executive — particularly over a conservative Italian nominee, Rocco Buttiglione,
who is opposed by a large segment of the 732-member European Parliament.
On the margins of the signing, the leaders sought to resolve the dispute over
Buttiglione, who was nominated as justice commissioner. The conservative
Catholic and papal confidant raised concerns by saying he believed homosexuality
is a sin and that women are better off married and at home.
The constitution foresees simpler voting rules to end decision gridlock in a
club that ballooned to 25 members this year and plans to absorb half a dozen
more in the years ahead.
It includes new powers for the European Parliament and ends national vetoes
in 45 new policy areas — including judicial and police cooperation, education
and economic policy — but not in foreign and defense policy, social security,
taxation or cultural matters.
The constitution was signed in the sala degli Orazi e Curiazi, the same
spectacular hall in a Renaissance palazzo where in 1957 six nations — Germany,
France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg — signed the union's
founding treaty.
EU leaders signed the constitution in alphabetical order by country, led by
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
"The seeming madness of our founding fathers has become a splendid reality,"
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier, said in a speech earlier. "Never in
history have we seen an example of nations voluntarily deciding to exercise
their sovereign powers jointly in the exclusive interests of their peoples, thus
overcoming age-old impulses of rivalry and distrust."
The EU constitution, which includes a charter of fundamental rights, marks a
new chapter in European history giving the continent "greater capacity for
making Europe more secure, more prosperous, more just," said Jan Peter
Balkenende, the Dutch leader whose nation holds the EU presidency.
Still, the internal turmoil over the makeup of the next EU executive
commission cast a shadow over the ceremony.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he counts on the EU assembly and
Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, the next European Commission president, to
resolve the issue within two weeks.
"I will not speak of a crisis if within 14 days the matter is resolved,"
Schroeder told reporters.
Chirac said the EU "needs a strong and independent commission capable of
working as soon as possible on the problems that the European Union faces."
On Wednesday, Barroso withdrew his team from a vote in the European
parliament, asking for more time to make changes.
If Buttiglione goes, others will likely go, too, to preserve a political
balance that will secure European Parliament approval for the new EU executive.
