AUTHORS: Clare Coffey

The Convention on the Future of Europe was set up in February 2002 in preparation for the Inter-governmental Conference (IGC) scheduled for 2004, the ensure ‘broadly-based and transparent’ negotiations. Five major agenda items for the Convention were identified at the Lacken Summit, and the Convention’s final document was the outline different options/recommendations if concensus had been reached, and provide starting points for discussion in the IGC

Early drafts presented by the Convention in October 2002 did not confine themselves to presenting options, or proposing a ‘chapeau’ to the European treaties to increase their public accessibility, as some had expected. Rather, they contained the beginnings of a new treaty establishing a constitution for Europe, which should, according to the Convention, replace the existing Treaties, the possibility of which has serious implications for EU environmental policy and the commitment to sustainability.