Plan B – how to Bury Plan D

The Plan D Campaign gives an overview of the state of the EU Constitution, within a snapshot of “Plan B – how to rescue the European constitution” launched by MEP Andrew Duff in the European Parliament on 18 October 2006.

When MEP Andrew Duff (ALDE) launched “Plan B – how to rescue the European constitution” at the European Parliament in Brussels, Communications Commissioner Margot Wallström was there to back him up. Brushing aside the Commission’s own “Plan D – for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”, Ms Wallström embarked on “Plan B – how to Bury Plan D.

“The commission would not like to depart too much from the constitutional treaty,” Ms Wallström said during Mr Duff’s launch, ignoring the Principle of Unanimity for EU treaties and the French and Dutch No votes. “The departure point should be keeping the core of the constitution,” she added (EUobserver, 19.10.2006).

This was all well and good for Duff. His Plan B maintains that while leaving Parts I and II intact, Part III should be reopened in order to add attractive clauses which the people identify with, such as climatic changes and environmental and energy policies.

On her part, Ms Wallström was cautious not to go too far with democracy and debate, describing Duff’s proposals “ambitious” and “attractive” but adding that “At the same time, one should not underestimate the difficulties we would face if we were to start revising Part III.” (Europa.eu, 18.10.2006).

Circling around Part III

Which, of course, is also okay by Duff, whose Plan B is not really far from German Chancellor Merkel’s rigid plan to keep the text largely intact, hoping to force the Dutch and the French into another referendum on more-or-less the same text.

Duff’s Plan B is also not very far from Italian PM Prodi’s plan for a smaller treaty that leaves out “the technical parts” in Part III. This is what the aspiring French presidential candidate Sarkozy means by his “mini treaty”, which he would then hope to ratify in the French parliament without a referendum.

But leaving out much of Part III should not present any problems, given that most of this part comprises EU and Community Law negotiated in previous treaties. After all, it is Part I, concerning the political structure, that makes the Constitution what it is, while Part II is the frill on human rights (perhaps the European Convention on Human Rights has in some way become flawed and lacking).

Other options

There are other options of course, such as reopening negotiations on all disputed points, or simply forgetting the Constitution and saving the idea for a sunny day. But perhaps MEP Syed Kamall (UK-EPP-ED) got it best when he said, “the European constitution died when the voters of France and Holland overwhelmingly rejected it,…” (EuPolitix, Notre Europe, 18.10.2006). This statement is precisely in accordance with the EU principle of unanimity on EU Treaties.

There is one other option - a democratic idea that comes from MEP Jens-Peter Bonde (DK-IND/DEM). “Instead of manipulating the public by drafting a compressed constitution, we should make a fresh start,” Mr Bonde said of his proposal to set up a convention of 270 parliamentarians, with 10 MPs from each country representing both sides of the political divide at European level. Given time and widespread debate the convention would then submit two different drafts, “draft A for a kind of EU state and draft B for a Europe of democracies” (EUobserver, 13.10.2006)

Voters would then choose between the two in an EU-wide referendum in each member state.

Plan B vs. Plan D

Mr Bonde’s idea is not based on the political left-right divide in member states but focuses on a different divide at a European level: that between the federal “USA” model which creates a single EU State, and a “Europe of Democracies”, where close cooperation and Union action is determined by the parliamentary democracies of member states.

We cannot expect support for Plan D from those who see no alternative to the “United States of Europe”, especially now that ‘referendum’ is becoming a dirty word.

The people have a knack for smelling grandiose centralising plans. No wonder Commissioner Wallström prefers Duff’s Plan B to her own Plan D.

The Plan D Campaign is an initiative of the Independence/Democracy Group in the European Parliament