When is a constitution not a constitution? When it is the European Union's "reform treaty." EU leaders agreed last month on a new document to guide the EU and — hopefully — end the paralysis that has blocked progress toward a genuine community among the 27 member states. While the leaders applauded their achievement, critics rightfully questioned just what had been agreed and the cost of consensus.
The dream of creating a cohesive bloc that can articulate and defend its interests obligated EU members to reform its institutions and processes. The EU's steady expansion from 15 states to 27 has compounded the requirement for change. A first attempt began four years ago with the creation of a committee to develop a constitution, which was revealed two years later. That effort failed: When put before member publics, the constitution was rejected by two EU founding states, the Netherlands and France.
The constitution itself was an unwieldy document of 448 clauses, protocols and annexes that failed to capture the spirit and the dream of union. Defeat, however, reflected not the document itself but the distance most Europeans felt from the EU. Most significantly, there was little indication that Europeans were prepared to sacrifice yet more national sovereignty to a regional institution from which they felt increasingly estranged.