European Union debate on the draft constitution
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(Новая конституция Европейского союза. Обсуждение проекта конституции странами ЕС – EU Constitution)
УПРАЖНЕНИЯ
Упражнение I.For Reference. Read the two articles on Europe’s draft constitution:
Europe's draft constitution
The leaders of the 25 current and future member states of the European Union meet Friday in Brussels for a final round of negotiations on a new constitution.
The document must be approved unanimously and
then ratified at the national level by Parliaments or through referenda. Following are some of the constitution’s key proposals:
MAJORITY VOTING
Part of the impetus behind the constitution was the fear that with 25 members, each with veto power in the Council of Ministers, decision making would be paralyzed. An extension of majority voting has become the framework’s most contentious issue.
Majority voting is limited to certain areas, and countries can block decisions in the Council of Ministers by declaring a vital national interest.
AN EU PRESIDENT
The European Council, made up of the leaders of the member states, will "elect its president by qualified majority for a term of two and a half years renewable once," the draft states. Their choice would be subject to approval by the European Parliament. Serving heads of government would be ineligible. Currently, a rotating presidency passes to a new member state every six months, a system widely seen as inefficient.
Small states fear the enhanced influence of the European Council would weaken the European Commission, the EU’s executive body and traditional ally of the smaller member states.
A MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The European Council, with the agreement ot the president, would also appoint a foreign minister. The aim is to give a higher profile to the EU’s foreign policy.
Britain and other countries object to the designation "foreign minister" because it implies the EU has a government of which the foreign minister is a member.
REFORM OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The largest of the EU institutions with about 15,000 staff members, the commission is the executive agency charged with ensuring the proper functioning of the EU single market; it also initiates legislation and often speaks for the EU as a whole. Each of the 25 member states is likely to be represented by at least one commissioner. Larger countries may be allowed two commissioners each, which would result in a total of 31.
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Initially a slimmed-down commission was proposed consisting of 15 voting members and 10 associate members,
COMMON FOREIGN AND DEFENSE POLICY
The draft constitution says that the EU will define and implement "common foreign and security policy" and that member staiSS wili support that policy "actively and unreservedly."
The proposals do not call for majority voting on foreign policy unless heads of state and government, acting unanimously, order the ministers to take a vote. Britain, among others, insists on retaining a national veto over foreign and defense policy.
CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
The charter is designed to protect citizens against EU laws that might infringe on their basic rights.
Application of the charter could not be used to strike down purely national laws.
LEGAL SUPREMACY
The EU would become a legal entity in its own right, and its laws would take precedence over those of national Parliaments of its member states. "The constitution and law adopted by the Union institutions in exercising competences conferred upon it by the Constitution, shall have primacy over the law of the member states."
The EU would have authority to negotiate and ratify international treaties.
Sources: Center for European Reform; BBC.
* * *
On July 1st, Italy becomes president of the European Union. It is a six-monthly handing over of the baton that elicits no excitement at all in normal circumstances, but these days the circumstances are not quite normal. Politically, Europe is split. Economically, it is sputtering. The war in Iraq has lacerated relations with its main ally, the United States. Ten newcomers are about to join the club and, if the expanded Union is not to find itself paralysed, agreement must be reached on a new constitution. It is plainly time for clear-sightedness, diplomatic finesse and the exercise of the sort of moral authority that comes with ungrudging respect.
Упражнение II. Подготовьте перевод текста с листа:
New Constitution at Stake
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Will it take a miracle?
Unanimity needed at EU summit talks
By Thomas Fuller
BRUSSELS: Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister of Italy, said Thursday that it would take a "miracle." Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission, said he was 66 percent confident of a deal.
As leaders gathered here for tense negotiations to decide the fate of the European Union’s first constitution, officials braced for a weekend of arm-twisting and horse-trading. Twenty-five governments must come to a unanimous agreement on the charter or return home empty-handed.
At stake is a document that could change the way the EU works in at least one fundamental way: After four decades of relying heavily on consensus for decision-making, voting could become as routine among the different governments as it is in their national parliaments.
The EU would change from a sort of gentleman’s club – countries now vote on only about 15 percent of issues – to a more mechanical democracy, with all the political consequences that entails.
Even staunch supporters of the draft constitution say the new voting system could make the EU more unruly. But they say it is better than trying to continue to manage by consensus with 10 new countries joining in May.
european Union debate on the draft constitution
Great Britain: Delete federal, drop "minister" and do not touch tax and social security.
Patrick Wintourand Ian Black
Tony Blair yesterday warned Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the president of the European convention, that Britain will not allow a new EU constitution to give the European commission powers over British tax and social security.
He also told Mr Giscard d’Estaing at their third and final dinner in Downing Street before the end of the convention that Britain wants the word federal removed from the draft text, since it feeds British fears about an EU super state.
Peter Hain, the British minister responsible for handling the talks, said Mr Giscard d’Estaing understood most British concerns.
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No 10* insisted that if its concerns were not included in the convention’s final proposals, Britain would ensure it wins its way at an inter-governmental conference of the existing 15 nations.
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Speaking in Brussels, Mr Straw, Britain’s foreign secretary, appealed for calm and mature debate.
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Urging the Tones to "come to their senses" on Europe, Mr Blair said: "The days of isolationism are gone. Our role now is to be a leading partner in shaping the Europe of the future, not following reluctantly the shape moulded by others."
Trade unions welcomed this statement.
The Guardian,
December, 2003
Упражнение III. Переведите тексты 1, 2, 3, 4 с листа по абзацам. Прочтите абзац про себя (3 минуты) и переведите:
Текст 1
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