EU forum set to complete draft constitution today

An unprecedented forum drafting a constitution for the European Union was on track to complete its work today and the agreed final text will prove a milestone in EU history, lawmakers said yesterday.

The 105-member Convention on the Future of Europe aims to present the draft to EU leaders at a summit in Thessaloniki, Greece, on June 20-21.

"After 16 months of hard work, I think we can say that the Convention has been a success," Inigo Mendez de Vigo, a Spanish conservative on the forum told reporters during a break in final negotiations on the draft.

But another forum member, German Social Democrat Klaus Haensch, warned against complacency as the Convention's chief Valery Giscard d'Estaing strove to bridge remaining gaps.

"If everybody digs in their heels tomorrow, we will have difficulties," he told the same news conference. "It is like a balloon - if we don't inflate it enough, it cannot get off the ground and if we blow it up too much it will burst."

The Convention will still have some work to do in July on the part of the constitution which deals with EU policies. Then, the EU leaders will launch a so-called Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in October to debate and amend the total text.

They hope to agree a final version before the European Parliament elections in June next year.

"I think the text resulting from the IGC will be a text of utmost importance... I have no doubt the final result will be comparable to the Treaty of Rome in 1957," Mendez de Vigo said.

The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC), the EU's forerunner, grouping just six nations - France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the then West Germany.