Do you think the EU needs a constitution ?
If so ...
what would like to see in it ?
what shouldn't be in it ?

(Non-EU citizens should feel free to share their thoughts too.)

i would rather not like having any reference to a christian heritage as some countries (germany, poland, ...) have requested because i suspect it will be used to block any non-christian countries (like turkey) from ever joining the EU and to perpetuate backward traditions of discrimination towards women and minorities (gays, atheists, ...)

I guess that if we would get an European Constitution it should be a secular, neutral in matters of religion. Also the rights and duties of all members of the union should be equal, independent of the size of the country (both in land and economical).

Jeroen

I feel about the European Constitution the same way I feel about many things in the EU - it's a great and necessary idea but why does it have to be managed so badly?

What kind of organisation can't get it's accounts signed off by it's auditors several years running? It simply wouldn't be allowed for any other body.

The EU needs to be run for the benefit of its citizens, not it's Commission and National Governments as currently. There are many anti-EU people here in the UK. I am not one of them but I wish the EU wasn't so hard to support

And at the risk of being accused of living in a glass house & throwing stones, it should of course be secular for the reasons given by c.dric.

I think Europe needs a Constitution badly, and I agree with all the remarks about religion which have been made in this post. As I am living in Italy, I am particularly aware of the political pressure the Catholic Church is applying towards society in this moment, as they feel that our society somehow needs to be 'rescued' from what they consider immoral behaviours. Regardless of what I personally think about these matters, western democracies distinguish themselves as non religious-biased, and including such a statement would go against such a statement. Also, as Europe has indeed got Arabian (mathematics, Spain and Portugal, navigation, horticulture, chemistry...), pagan (Greeks, Latins, Egyptian..), revolutionary and anti-clerical (French Revolution) roots as well as Christians, I think that such a statement would be a bit biased.

By the way, I think that Sarkozy's proposal of a minor tractate which can pave the way to a later Constitution is something European should support. Better making a little step than standing still, waiting in eternal for the right moment to jump. Or so I see it

I thought that they had similar laws. Oh, that isn't a part of their constitution?
All I have to say is that it would be hard for the EU to have a constitution because there are huge differences in race and religious views.

The EU doesnt need a constitution, because it's not a country. I really wish it wouldn't act as if it were one. Referendums have been held in several EU country's, We haven't had one here in the UK. They don't dare ask the British people what they think of the EU... If they did we would almost certainly vote to leave.

A free trade agreement is fine, European super state no way...

i agree with pENdr4gON. i just don't understand why anyone wants to get rid of their country's sovereignty and be ruled by foreigners. i love my country and would be happy to fight the EU to keep it, i really would.

A lot of this EU super state thing is driven by the Germans. As a nation they are ashamed by the events second world war. They would do anything to avoid such a thing happening again in Europe. Their collective fear is so strong of any form of nationalism that they would willingly give up their sovereignty in the processes. It is completely possible to be nationalistic without jackboots and racism. Just because the right-wing claim nationalism as their standard, shouldn't be the reason why free thinking liberal people should condemn it.

Because there is more at stake in the world than a little lump of rock called 'England'. Everything we do in the UK affects other countries and everything they do affects us. To state that they are 'foreigners' just shows a distinct ignorance of world affairs. Without the EU, trade would be much more complex - each country we wished to trade with would have to have an agreement, some of those countries would demand that we didn't trade with other countries etc... As it stands we can travel freely within a huge space of land, get jobs anywhere in that area, trade with them freely etc...

I'm all for the EU, so long as they get their asses into gear and run it properly. As it stands, it is simply a mess.

How about we roll it back the the EEC? A free trade area. What we voted for back in the 70's or at least what we thought we were voting for...

You mean like when France baned the import of British beef? or barricade the ports to stop imports of beef and lamb??

That would be kept as part of the old EEC


Thing is will never be run properly, corruption is rife, it's undemocratic because there is no public accountability.

Did you vote for the commissionaires? I don't think so... Mandarins with all of the power and no accountability to the people.

isn't it so that most countries have been formed by federating smaller entities that were once fiercely independent ? isn't that similar to the making of the EU ?

i find it perfectly 'natural' to fight and even die for your loved ones but i think nationalism, patriotism and even religions are tools to put artificial walls between people and get them to fight and die for someone else's benefit.

i'm convinced that the less nationalist & patriotic we are the better we will fare as a society.

(this is getting a little off topic, so i've created a new thread for those who want to discuss nationalism & patriotism not related to the EU.)

hmm, maybe i'll look up the word 'foreigners'. i thought it meant someone from another country, i don't see how that can mean i know nothing about geopolitics ??? and BTW, in England we have a duty to look after ourselves first.
as i said in another thread being a member of the EU has nothing to do with trading rights. it's only about building a superstate. you are simply wrong - we can leave the EU tomorrow and keep the trade we have now. so, really it's you who who is ignorant.

so why do we need to give up our sovereignty?

I heard something about the current draft of the constitution being something in the region of 500 pages long. Is that true? Why is it so long? Half a dozen pages was enough for the American Constitution... But I guess the EU one will actually be a proper one with all the loopholes addressed etc. and might not contain such foolhardy declarations as "the right to bear arms". Just think how much trouble would have been averted in the last 200 years if that hadn't been in the American Constitution!