October 17, 2002	Thursday	Sha'aban 10, 1423

LONDON: The European Union must adopt a constitution that enshrines its member states at its heart and rejects the outdated concept of federalism, the senior academic charged with setting out Britain’s ideas said on Tuesday.

Cambridge University professor Alan Dashwood, whose draft EU constitution was unveiled by the government, said it was vital to be realistic about the EU’s future and accept that member states did not want, or plan, to give up sovereignty.

“It’s a constitution for those with a certain vision of the European Union,” Dashwood said.

“Federalism is an old-fashioned idea, while this is a unique way of organizing government at different levels, because it doesn’t diminish the states that belong to it.”

Dashwood’s 29-article draft “Constitutional Treaty of the European Union” endorses the idea of a fixed president of the EU — a proposal firmly backed by Britain, France and Spain, but opposed by some smaller EU states.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been floated as a possible future EU President, but his office denies he has his eye on the job.

The British government pledged its support for the creation of a full-time EU president and a full European constitution — an idea which not long ago was absolute taboo in Britain.

Blair has, however, recently taken up the idea as a way of limiting the powers of Brussels and giving extra rights to member governments and national parliaments.—Reuters