The European Constitutional Convention has presented the product of its work. The 'Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe' contains four parts: Part I with 59 'founding' articles on the definition and objectives of the Union, its competencies, institutions, procedures and finances,...

On 4 October 2003 the heads of state and government and foreign ministers of all 25 existing and imminently acceding Member States of the European Union, European Commission President Romano Prodi and two representatives of the European Parliament opened the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC)...

Following the European Parliament's approval, a new European Commission will start its work on November 1st in Brussels under the direction of Jose Manuel Durao Barroso of Portugal. Barroso announced a Commission that would be defined by leadership, vision and collegiality. These buzz words...

Upon the signing of the Draft Constitutional Treaty on October 29, the preparations for the development of a European External Action Service (EEAS) were formally started. The Service is to be assembled from the relevant departments of the Council Secretariat and the European Commission, and...

At the end of February 2005, nearly twenty years after their accession to the then European Community, Spain and Portugal have once again given a clear signal of their identification with the European Union (EU): In Spain the first national referendum on the ratification of the Treaty...

On 8 February 2006 the Estonian parliament endorsed at first reading a law to ratify the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union (EU) against the background of intensifying debate on the future of the Treaty. Final Estonian ratification is due to take place before the end of Austria's EU...

The convention on stepping up cross border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, cross border crime and illegal migration, initiated by the Germans and signed in Prüm (Germany) on May 27, 2005, represents a new element in the fragmented landscape of European Justice and Home...

The "pause for thought" decreed by the heads of state and government for themselves and their citizens after the voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe has been extended for at least another year. The European Council meeting on 15th and...

In light of recent developments in Turkey, the debate on alternatives to full EU membership, presented for example in Germany as privileged partnerships or in France as a Mediterranean Union, remains current. The new opt-outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights and other integration policies...