Wednesday

17th Apr 2024

Polish president calls for brand new EU constitution

The European Union should draft a brand new constitution, because the one currently on the table pushes for more integration than the bloc's citizens are willing to accept, Polish president Lech Kaczynski has said.

"That constitution created a certain hybrid, which was not a European superstate yet, but was not that far from it," he told Polish press agency PAP.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Mr Kaczynski added that the new treaty should "reflect the EU's real needs. And the European reality is a reality of states, mostly national states."

The statement comes just days before several EU leaders and intellectuals gather in Salzburg to attend a high-profile conference called "The Sound of Europe" hosted by the Austrian presidency.

Their debate should focus on the future of the union and it should add up to the "reflection period" launched by the EU leaders last year, following the rejection of the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands.

Vienna is expected to analyse the year-long discussion on what to do with the failed constitutional project in June, but it is still far from clear which direction the bloc's leaders will take to resolve the issue.

The European Parliament has recently approved a report calling on key EU players to salvage the existing charter, possibly with some additional texts to face concerns expressed by the French and Dutch.

But according to the Polish president, the current constitution is too much forward-looking, as it refers to an as yet unformed single European identity.

"Today, the European identity manifests itself in opposition to something, for example opposition to the United States, and building a common identity on such a basis of antagonisms is the worst path for a united Europe," he said.

Mr Kaczynski was elected last year along with his identical twin Jaroslaw, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, both of them popular for their mild euroscepticism and for their support of traditional Roman Catholic values.

UK-EU deal on Gibraltar only 'weeks away'

EU and UK negotiators said that a new post-Brexit settlement for Gibraltar was just weeks away from completion following four-way talks in Brussels on Friday (12 April).

Ukraine's farmers slam EU import controls on food products

The paradoxical move to tighten EU import controls on agricultural goods from Ukraine, despite the EU's vocal support for Kyiv, has sparked criticism from Ukrainian farmers. Overall, it is estimated the new measures could cost the Ukrainian economy €330m.

Police ordered to end far-right 'Nat-Con' Brussels conference

The controversial far-right "National Conservatism" conference taking place in Brussels was ordered to halt at the behest of the local neighbourhood mayor — in what critics described as a publicity victory for the populist right.

Column

What do we actually mean by EU 'competitiveness'?

Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi are coming up with reports on the EU's single market and competitiveness — but although 'competitiveness' has become a buzzword, there's no consensus on a definition for what it actually means.

Latest News

  1. EU leaders mull ways to arrest bloc's economic decline
  2. Police ordered to end far-right 'Nat-Con' Brussels conference
  3. How Hungary's teachers are taking on Viktor Orban
  4. What do we actually mean by EU 'competitiveness'?
  5. New EU envoy Markus Pieper quits before taking up post
  6. EU puts Sudan war and famine-risk back in spotlight
  7. EU to blacklist Israeli settlers, after new sanctions on Hamas
  8. Private fears of fairtrade activist for EU election campaign

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us