Today I will start to focus on the proposed draft version of the Reform Treaty. The Reform Treaty is aimed to amend the present treaties about the EU and the European Community, so it is quite difficult to understand this new treaty without comparing it with the present version of the treaties it amends. Besides, this is not the first European treaty amending a previous one (see here for a quick history) and amendments has been stratifying during the decades, so in order to have a clear idea on what is the present situation we usually have to read the consolidated version of the treaties in force at present. So what I am going to do is comparing this consolidated version with what will result after the new amending by the Reform Treaty.

The sources of my notes will be the The Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community as in force from 1 February 2003 (Nice consolidated versions) and The Draft Treaty amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community

Well, let’s start with the Preamble.

This is the present version:

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF DENMARK, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC, HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE OF LUXEMBOURG, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,
RESOLVED to mark a new stage in the process of European integration undertaken with the establishment of the European Communities,
RECALLING the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the need to create firm bases for the construction of the future Europe,
CONFIRMING their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law,
CONFIRMING their attachment to fundamental social rights as defined in the European Social Charter signed at Turin on 18 October 1961 and in the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers,
DESIRING to deepen the solidarity between their peoples while respecting their history, their culture and their traditions,
DESIRING to enhance further the democratic and efficient functioning of the institutions so as to enable them better to carry out, within a single institutional framework, the tasks entrusted to them,
RESOLVED to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an economic and monetary union including, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty, a single and stable currency,
DETERMINED to promote economic and social progress for their peoples, taking into account the principle of sustainable development and within the context of the accomplishment of the internal market and of reinforced cohesion and environmental protection, and to implement policies ensuring that advances in economic integration are accompanied by parallel progress in other fields,
RESOLVED to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries,
RESOLVED to implement a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence in accordance with the provisions of Article 17, thereby reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world,
RESOLVED to facilitate the free movement of persons, while ensuring the safety and security of their peoples, by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty,
RESOLVED to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,
IN VIEW of further steps to be taken in order to advance European integration,
HAVE DECIDED to establish a European Union and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries: (List of plenipotentiaries not reproduced)
WHO, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows.

To this it will be added this piece of inspiration:

DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,

Of course the beginning list of heads of State (note how many Queens and Kings!) will also change due to the fact that now there are many new countries which have joined us in 2004.

Focusing on the piece of preamble that will be added, we can see that it is what remains of the famous preamble of the proposed Constitution. The Roman Church strongly opposed it because here the text talk only of a vague “religious inheritance” and not of strong “Christian roots”. I will not go deeper in this debate, I just state that in my opinion the formulation of the present text is good enough.

However, I want to end this post focusing on an already consolidated part of this preamble:

RESOLVED to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries,
RESOLVED to implement a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence in accordance with the provisions of Article 17, thereby reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world,

This is a clue of the federalist soul of the EU. Many people, also European federalists, think that EU is not a federal State. I have a different opinion, but even if I admitted that the Union is not a federal one yet, I would ask those people to admit at least that EU has a clear federal direction and that this direction is already established in the treaties.