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Resolution of the U.E.F. Federal Committee on the Nice European Council (7-8 December 2000), Brussels, 14-15 October 2000 The Federal Committee of the U.E.F., - though aware of the
impossibility for the process of European unification to advance any further
through piece-meal institutional reforms,
1. expresses its
hope that the forthcoming European Council in Nice will succeed in reaching
an agreement on the so-called left-overs of Amsterdam and in working out
better mechanisms for enhanced co-operation;
2. emphasises
that, on the grounds of the recent declarations by the German Foreign minister
Joschka Fischer and the French President Jacques Chirac, the issue of the
European Constitution can no longer be eluded;
3. urges the European
Council in Nice to convene a democratically legitimated convention with
the mandate to draft a European Constitution to be submitted to the competent
bodies for ratification;
4. underlines
that the calling of a constitutional conference would be entirely useless
should the mandate not determine in advance that the goal to be pursued
is a federal reform of the institutions of the Union, establishing a democratically
accountable government, generalizing the European Parliament's legislative
co-decision powers, transforming the Council of Ministers into a second
legislative Chamber and transferring to the Union the competence for foreign
policy and defence;
5. asks the Heads
of State and government of France and Germany, together with those who
are in favour of it, should the above mentioned proposal be rejected by
some of the governments of the Union, to express their determination to
advance, even outside of the framework of the Treaties, and to call immediately
a democratically legitimated convention to be attended by the representatives
of the governments belonging to this group of states, with the mandate
to:
b) identify the
mechanisms regulating the relationships between the federal core
and the rest of the Union to be proposed for adoption to the other States
of the EU.
Resolution of the U.E.F. Federal
Committee on the European Charter of fundamental rights, important constituent
element for a European constitution,
The U.E.F. Federal Committee, A. considering that the "European Charter of fundamental rights" is an important building block for the future European constitution; B. considering that the rights and freedoms of European citizens form the common foundation of values for politics in the European Union; C. considering that the catalogue of fundamental rights represents the visiting card for the european model of society and that it will contribute towards a better identification of the people with European politics; D. considering that the people in the European Union must be able to rely on these rights and freedoms before the European Court of Justice (CJEC); E. considering that the Charter will only obtain its full significance once the EU has a government and democratic institutions which execute the objectives and values of the Charter; 1. demands that the Charter of fundamental rights shall not just remain a solemn proclamation by the heads of State and government, but that the time after Nice is used to open a public debate on the current text, as to reinforce the citizens' rights and freedoms, to integrate the final Charter into the European Constitution and to endow the catalogue of fundamental rights with binding legal force; 2. therefore calls upon the European summit to be held at Nice on 7 and 8 December : a) to integrate the Charter of fundamental rights into the European Treaties, b) if this should be politically unfeasible, to set out a procedure and a time-table for the integration of the Charter into the future European Constitution; 3. decides that
the U.E.F., in co-operation with the political parties, the trade unions,
the Permanent Forum for Civil Society and other NGOs, will insist on the
entire fundamental rights to become part of the European constitution,
in order to ensure that it is the person and not the market who is at the
center of European politics.
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