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May 24, 2005
EU constitution, part III
This weekend the French have a referendum on the proposed EU constitution. Although of course I don't have a vote to cast, I decided to start reading the thing since the state sent Nathalie a paper copy.
It's not exactly an exciting read, but I found an interesting section in there before falling asleep. Article 46, which is entitled in the English version, "The principle of participatory democracy." For a moment I thought they were going to propose direct legislative capabilities, as does the National Initiative for Democracy in the US.
Not so, however. Basically Article 46 says the EU has to keep people informed, let the discuss, and listen to what they say if at least a million of them are in agreement. They can "invite the Commission to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Constitution."
Posted by Mark at May 24, 2005 10:25 PM