The Convention on the Future of the European Union, also known as the European Convention, was a body established by the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

in December 2001 as a result of the Laeken Declaration. Inspired by the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

that led to the adoption of the United States federal Constitution, its purpose was to produce a draft

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

for the Council to finalise and adopt. The Convention finished its work in July 2003 with their

Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unRatification, ratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...

. See

History of the European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

for developments after this point.

Laeken Declaration

In December 2001, when the European Council met in Laeken, a fresh declaration was adopted committing the EU to greater

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

, transparency and efficiency, and setting out the process by which a

could be arrived at. This was to be achieved by a convention, which was intended to comprise the main 'stakeholders', in order to examine questions about the future direction of the EU. It was to produce a "final document", which soon became the draft constitution, to be handed over to the

Intergovernmental Conference {{Politics of the European Union In the politics of the European Union, an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) is the formal procedure for negotiating amendments to the EU's founding treaties. Under the treaties, an IGC is called into being by the ...

, scheduled for 2004, which would finalise a new treaty.

Work

The European Convention was established with 102 members. Former French President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

was appointed Chairman, former

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Prime Minister

Giuliano Amato Giuliano Amato (; born 13 May 1938) is an Italian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Italy, first from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2001. Later, he was Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted t ...

and former Belgian Prime Minister

Jean-Luc Dehaene Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene (; 7 August 1940 – 15 May 2014) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber" and "The Mineswee ...

were appointed Vice-Chairmen. Its members were drawn from the national parliaments of member states and candidate countries, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

, and representatives of

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. The Convention met for the first time in February 2002, and met thereafter in

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference which all members of all parties are to attend. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily related to a specific st ...

once or twice per month. It deliberated in public in the European Parliament building in Brussels. The 13 member præsidium of the convention consisted of the chairman and vice-chairmen along with: Government Representatives:

Ana de Palacio y del Valle-Lersundi Ana Isabel de Palacio y del Valle Lersundi (born 22 July 1948) in Madrid, daughter of Luis María de Palacio y de Palacio, 4th Marqués de Matonte, and wife Luisa Mariana del Valle Lersundi y del Valle, was Spain's minister for foreign affairs ...

(Spain - PP);

Henning Christophersen Henning Christophersen (8 November 1939 – 31 December 2016) was a Danish politician, a former Vice President of the European Commission (1985–1995), former leader of the Danish liberal party '' Venstre'' (1978–1984) and former member of ...

(Denmark - Venstre);

Georgios Katiforis Georgios (, , ) is a Greek name derived from the word ''georgos'' (, , "farmer" lit. "earth-worker"). The word ''georgos'' (, ) is a compound of ''ge'' (, , "earth", "soil") and ''ergon'' (, , "task", "undertaking", "work"). It is one of the most ...

(Greece - PASOK). European Commission Representatives: Michel Barnier - UMP;

António Vitorino António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino (12 January 1957 in Lisbon; ) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician of the Socialist Party (PS). Career Career in national politics Vitorino graduated in law from the University of Lisbon. A lawye ...

- PS European Parliament Representatives:

Klaus Hänsch Klaus Hänsch (born 15 December 1938 in Szprotawa) is a German politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament representing the SPD from 17 July 1979 until 13 July 2009, and sat with the Party of European Socialists group. He was vice-ch ...

- SPD;

Íñigo Méndez de Vigo Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y Montojo, 9th Baron of Claret (born 21 January 1956) is a Spanish aristocrat and politician. He served as Minister of Education, Culture and Sport between 26 June 2015 and 1 June 2018, when a vote of no-confidence aga ...

y Montojo - PP National Parliament Representatives:

Gisela Stuart Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (''née'' Gschaider; born 26 November 1955) is a British-German politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the La ...

, Labour Party UK;

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader of ...

, FG Ireland Invitee: Alojz

Lojze Peterle Alojz "Lojze" Peterle (born 5 July 1948) is a Slovenian politician. He is a member of New Slovenia, part of the European People's Party. He served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 1990 to 1992, Leader of the Christian Democrats from the foun ...

- NSi (Slovenia)

References

External links

European Convention
(official website, no longer updated) {{Authority control Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe Constitutional conventions (political meeting) Diplomatic conferences in Belgium 21st-century diplomatic conferences 2001 in international relations 2001 in the European Union Valéry Giscard d'Estaing

Laeken Declaration

Work

See also

References

External links