WE LOVE DEMOCRACY; IT’S VOTERS WE CAN’T STAND

Foreign ministers consider plan to salvage EU constitution (Mark John and David Brunnstrom, The Scotsman, May 29th, 2006)

European Union ministers have raised the possibility of changing the name of the bloc's stalled constitution as part of a plan to rescue key parts of the charter by 2009.

French and Dutch voters a year ago rejected the text, aimed at streamlining EU decision-making and giving the bloc its own president and foreign minister, all but killing off a project that needs the backing of all EU states to come into force.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Vienna yesterday acknowledged no move could be undertaken to save the charter before French and Dutch general elections in May 2007. However, there was guarded backing for a German proposal to start steps to salvage the core of the text, possibly under a new name, immediately afterwards.

"Everybody agrees it was a mistake to call it a constitution, so that would be a sensible change," the Finnish foreign minister, Erkki Tuomioja, said, insisting his country nonetheless planned to become the 16th state to ratify the existing text later this year. [...]

Germany, among countries that have already ratified the charter, takes over the EU presidency early next year and its foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, for the first time publicly mentioned the idea of a possible name change.

"We in Germany live with a 'Basic Law', which does not carry the title 'constitution' but has the same legal quality. It's a possible starting point," he told reporters.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the EU Commission president, said: "If someone finds a better name, great. But what is important is to recommit ourselves to this vision of Europe."

We suggest “The European Democratic Republic”.