EP committee gives strong support to EU Constitution

The Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee has adopted a
report in favour of the Constitutional Treaty by a large
majority. The plenary vote on the own initiative report
is expected in January.

The Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European
Parliament has adopted a report favourable towards the draft
Constitutional Treaty, by 20 votes to three, with three
abstentions. The report, drafted by Richard Corbett (PES, UK) and Iñigo
Méndez de Vigo (EPP-ED, ES), was adopted on 30 November.

The text concludes that “the Constitution is,
globally, a good compromise and a vast improvement on the existing
treaties which will, once implemented, bring about visible benefits
for citizens”. The committee’s report will now be
forwarded for discussion by all MEPs, with plenary
adoption planned for January 2005.

One day after the vote in the EP committee, a crucial
internal vote is taking place within the French Socialist Party on
1 December. Depending on the result of the vote, the party as a
whole will decide whether to follow the line of party
leader François Hollande, who is in favour of the new treaty, or
that of Laurent Fabius, a fromer prime minister, who
represents the “no” camp. The outcome of this vote is crucial
for the EU as a whole since a “no” vote in a big member state could
undermine the whole constitutional project.

Lithuania was the first EU member to ratify the treaty by a
parliamentary vote on 11 November (see also EURACTIV 12 November 2004)

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