Dear Secretaries General,
dear Minister General
Your letter of 10 November
2005 to the President of the European Parliament concerning the
Constitution of the European Union has been referred to the Committee on
Constitutional Affairs and was considered by the coordinators of this
committee at their meeting on 15 March 2006.
In the first place, I would
like to thank you for the attention which you are giving to the
constitutional process of the European Union.. Spiritual forces play an
important role in creating awareness that political integration is
needed in order to maintain an order of peace, freedom, justice and
solidarity on our continent.
In its resolution of 13
January 2005, the European Parliament affirmed that the Treaty
Establishing a Constitution for Europe, taken as a whole, is a good
compromise and a vast improvement on the existing treaties, which will
bring about tangible benefits for citizens.
Parliament, however, was
conscious that the Constitutional Treaty has been object of some
criticism voiced in public debate which does not reflect its real
content. Notably it does not ignore the historical and spiritual roots
of Europe, since it refers to its cultural, religious and humanist
inheritance.
In the light of the
difficulties which the process of ratification of the Constitutional
Treaty faces following the referendum held in France and The
Netherlands, the European Parliament, in its resolution of 19 January
2006 recalling the endorsement of this treaty, has confirmed its
commitment to achieving a constitutional settlement for the European
Union. It has called on all parts of Europe’s civil society to engage in
the debate on the future of Europe during the present period of
reflection in order to overcome the constitutional crisis.
I very much hope that you
can support these efforts to achieve a constitutional settlement for
Europe’s coming generations, under the Constitution’s formula ‘Unity in
Diversity’.
