An EU Approved by the People, not the Diplomats

Elmar Brok, the European representative from Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is appalled at the thought that diplomats want to go over the draft EU constitution with a fine-tooth comb.

The compromise draft, approved in early June after painstaking consultations, is scheduled for discussion by European heads of state this October. According to Brok, the "best possible compromise" that representatives hammered out should be the one on the table this fall.

The EU constitution lays the framework for what EU Commission President Romano Prodi has called the "first supranational democracy in the world." The document, which envisions a federalist Europe, is considered essential for the further integration and management of a union of states that grows to 25 next year.

"Diplomats cannot change what representatives have worked out," said Brok.

Fellow European representative Monika Wulf-Mathies, member of Germany's Social Democrats and president of the European Movement Germany, agrees. Both politicians fear that if the compromise agreement is "opened up" for further discussions and possible changes, the results would be chaotic negotiation phases that could lead to crisis. In their opinion, the draft should stay as it is before it goes to government heads. It should be "all or nothing."

EU democratic credentials

Both fear that if the draft constitution is reformed by unelected diplomats, it would further widespread feelings of a "democratic deficit" or a lack of public accountability at the EU and increase the alienation many Europeans already feel from Brussels. While the EU continues to play an important role in traditionally domestic areas of policy, many people still see the union as distant, and believe they have extremely little involvement and influence.

Wulf-Mathies has called for a Europe-wide referendum over the constitution, which she said would force citizens to familiarize themselves with the draft document and the issues concerning it, something most have not done. A current survey of EU member states and candidates shows that more than half of those asked have never even heard of the EU convention to develop an EU constitution.

"In our view, a Europe-wide referendum would be an appropriate first step given the historical significance of this constitution," she said.

Power to the populace

Both politicians argue for more "people power" on the EU level and are encouraged by elements of the draft constitution they say encourage more citizen participation.

For example, if the draft is approved, in the future the president of the EU Commission will be elected by the EU Parliament, which in turn is elected by citizens. Currently, the Commission is anything but democratic. Its members are appointed by national governments.

"In the future, it will be the citizen who decides who heads the European government through the results of European elections," said Brok. "The citizen will be involved in European politics in an entirely new way."

But in order to engage citizens, the two politicians stressed, German political parties have to get involved themselves. They need to send good people to Strasbourg and Brussels, not politicians that are being "put out to pasture," according to Wulf-Mathies.

"It's only going to work if we send the best to represent the EU," she said.