Constitution by the backdoor

This week the European Parliament's constitutional committee had debates with two former members of the convention – the body that drew up the EU constitution.

Both presented different methods for getting the major parts of the rejected constitution approved, by the backdoor, with no referendums.

The new Dutch minister of European affairs, Frans Timmermans, would change the name 'Constitution' to a new 'treaty' and delete the EU state symbols - the flag and the hymn - from the tre...