The European Constitution
The European Constitution
The body of fundamental European Union law that has accumulated so far in separate Treaties was consolidated, coordinated and codified into the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), commonly referred to as the European Constitution. However, it remained unimplemented as it was subjected to ratification by all member states in 2005 and was rejected in referendum by two of them.
Read the following commentary and note the language of opposition.
The Treaty of Lisbon
In June 2007, proposals for a new treaty were drawn up to modernise the European Union. The treaty’s aim is to replace the EU constitution, which had been abandoned following the failed referendums. The so-called Reform Treaty was an attempt to reorganise and streamline European decision-making and laws as outlined in previous treaties. Its supporters claimed that it would create a more efficient, more democratic, and more transparent Europe. Its critics asserted that it was an attempt to move the EU towards federalism – a ‘United States of Europe’. While the failed constitution aimed to replace all previous treaties, the reform treaty would, instead, ‘amend’ and sit alongside those treaties. Since much of the constitution’s content could be found in the reform treaty proposals, many argued that the treaty was simply the constitution under a new name. Under EU rules, the treaty had to be ratified by all 27 member states before coming into force. The last country to ratify the treaty was the Czech Republic, which completed the process on 3 November 2009. The treaty became law on 1 December. The planned constitution was thrown out by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The Lisbon Treaty which succeeded it was rejected by Irish voters in June 2008. But it got overwhelming support in a second referendum in the Irish Republic on 2 October 2009.
Paraphrase the controversial position expressed in the text using the following words and phrases:
one says that... another claims...
one asserts that... another argues that...
instead
however
on the one hand... on the other
but
nevertheless
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