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these were the words of the leader of transvaal, paul kruger, when presented with british demands before the boer war. yesterday's new draft of the proposed european constitution should provoke the same reaction from our leaders, they want us to basically surrender control of our foriegn policy and our rights to decide on issues ranging from tax to social security and looking at the recent EU decision to allow france and germany to break the stability pact, it doesn't take a genius to work out who will hold the power in this 'new europe'. and you wonder why tony blair doesn't want to give us a referendum on this...
from BBC
from BBC
EU starts constitution battle
Tough negotiations lie ahead on the road to EU enlargement
EU foreign ministers have begun a two-day meeting in Naples to try to narrow differences over a draft constitution.
The European Commission has warned of the risk of failure unless the 15 member states agree to compromise.
On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw all but threatened to scupper the draft constitution if states were to lose their veto over foreign policy.
EU president Italy hopes to reach final agreement on the text in two weeks, but analysts say this is highly optimistic.
The EU constitution is designed to bring it closer to citizens, and to streamline decision-making in the future enlarged union of 25 nations.
In addition to Britain's concerns about foreign policy, Spain and Poland are resisting efforts to reduce the number of votes they wield.
Small countries are fighting to ensure that each country will still have its own European commissioner with full voting rights.
There is also controversy about whether or not to include a reference to Europe's Judaeo-Christian heritage in the preamble to the constitution.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason says the disputes make the task of the Italian presidency look almost impossible.
Small states' anger
The debate begins on Friday with the European Commission - the EU's executive body - having lost face this week in failing to discipline France and Germany over their budget deficits.
Diplomats say this Franco-German victory - achieved with the support of Italy - has soured the atmosphere at Naples, and increased the feeling among small nations that the balance of power in the EU is shifting in favour of the big countries.
Italy has floated a number of amendments to the constitution drafted by a convention under France's former president, Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
The proposed changes include allowing foreign policy decisions to be made by a majority vote - instead of by unanimous vote, as at present.
London said this week that any effort to change the existing system would cross a "red line" - prompting a UK veto.
'Unwieldy' commission
This and other major disagreements are expected to be left for heads of state to resolve at a summit in Rome on 12 and 13 December.
Poland and Spain insist on keeping the disproportionately large number of votes they were promised at the Nice summit in 2000.
Small countries such as Finland are resisting efforts to hold the number of voting commissioners at 15 - meaning 10 countries would not have fully-fledged commissioners when the union expands.
Opponents say that a commission of 25 would be too unwieldy to work effectively.
The foreign ministers, whose goal is to pave the way for success at the Rome summit, will meet for a last time on 8 December.
If the draft constitution is not agreed this year, talks will continue next year under the Irish presidency.
The ratification process is due to start in mid-2004, and the constitution is expected to come into force in 2006 at the earliest.
Tough negotiations lie ahead on the road to EU enlargement
EU foreign ministers have begun a two-day meeting in Naples to try to narrow differences over a draft constitution.
The European Commission has warned of the risk of failure unless the 15 member states agree to compromise.
On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw all but threatened to scupper the draft constitution if states were to lose their veto over foreign policy.
EU president Italy hopes to reach final agreement on the text in two weeks, but analysts say this is highly optimistic.
The EU constitution is designed to bring it closer to citizens, and to streamline decision-making in the future enlarged union of 25 nations.
In addition to Britain's concerns about foreign policy, Spain and Poland are resisting efforts to reduce the number of votes they wield.
Small countries are fighting to ensure that each country will still have its own European commissioner with full voting rights.
There is also controversy about whether or not to include a reference to Europe's Judaeo-Christian heritage in the preamble to the constitution.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason says the disputes make the task of the Italian presidency look almost impossible.
Small states' anger
The debate begins on Friday with the European Commission - the EU's executive body - having lost face this week in failing to discipline France and Germany over their budget deficits.
Diplomats say this Franco-German victory - achieved with the support of Italy - has soured the atmosphere at Naples, and increased the feeling among small nations that the balance of power in the EU is shifting in favour of the big countries.
Italy has floated a number of amendments to the constitution drafted by a convention under France's former president, Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
The proposed changes include allowing foreign policy decisions to be made by a majority vote - instead of by unanimous vote, as at present.
London said this week that any effort to change the existing system would cross a "red line" - prompting a UK veto.
'Unwieldy' commission
This and other major disagreements are expected to be left for heads of state to resolve at a summit in Rome on 12 and 13 December.
Poland and Spain insist on keeping the disproportionately large number of votes they were promised at the Nice summit in 2000.
Small countries such as Finland are resisting efforts to hold the number of voting commissioners at 15 - meaning 10 countries would not have fully-fledged commissioners when the union expands.
Opponents say that a commission of 25 would be too unwieldy to work effectively.
The foreign ministers, whose goal is to pave the way for success at the Rome summit, will meet for a last time on 8 December.
If the draft constitution is not agreed this year, talks will continue next year under the Irish presidency.
The ratification process is due to start in mid-2004, and the constitution is expected to come into force in 2006 at the earliest.
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