Published in The Times, 23 April 2004
Sir, Mr Sean Thomas (letter, April 20) quotes rather selectively from our website. There are indeed aspects of the draft European constitution which we welcome, but there are other aspects which we regard as missed opportunities.
The draft constitution is an advance towards making the European Union more democratic and accountable. It enhances the role of national and European parliaments, and demands that national ministers should in future meet publicly when they adopt European legislation. On the other hand the draft has done nothing to make it easier to achieve a genuine European foreign policy, and it has not given the European Parliament the right, as it should have done, to choose directly the President of the European Commission.
The Federal Union is neither dancing nor crying in the streets. It would certainly, however, wish to see the constitution adopted in any British referendum. Rejection would be profoundly destabilising for the EU and for Britain’s position within it.
Yours faithfully,