Military constitution

TREATY ESTABLISHING A CONSTITUTION FOR EUROPE

Adopted by consensus by the European Convention on 13 June and 10 July 2003
SUBMITTED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL IN ROME - 18 July 2003 -

[Foreign and military policies are centralized:]

PART I TITLE III: UNION COMPETENCES
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Article 15: The common foreign and security policy
1. The Union's competence in matters of common foreign and security policy shall cover all areas of foreign policy and all questions relating to the Union's security, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence.
2. Member States shall actively and unreservedly support the Union's common foreign and security policy in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity and shall comply with the acts adopted by the Union in this area. They shall refrain from action contrary to the Union's interests or likely to impair its effectiveness.
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TITLE IV: THE UNION'S INSTITUTIONS, Chapter I. The institutional framework
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Article 27: The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs
1. The European Council, acting by qualified majority, with the agreement of the President of the Commission, shall appoint the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs. He or she shall conduct the Union's common foreign and security policy.
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TITLE V: EXERCISE OF UNION COMPETENCE, Chapter II: Specific provisions
Article 39: Specific provisions for implementing common foreign and security policy
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2. The European Council shall identify the Union's strategic interests and determine the objectives of its common foreign and security policy.
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4. The common foreign and security policy shall be put into effect by the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs and by the Member States, using national and Union resources.
5. Member States shall consult one another within the European Council and the Council of Ministers on any foreign and security policy issue which is of general interest in order to determine a common approach. Before undertaking any action on the international scene or any commitment which could affect the Union's interests, each Member State shall consult the others within the European Council or the Council of Ministers. Member States shall ensure, through the convergence of their actions, that the Union is able to assert its interests and values on the international scene. Member States shall show mutual solidarity.
6. The European Parliament shall be regularly consulted on the main aspects and basic choices of the common foreign and security policy and shall be kept informed of how it evolves.
7. European decisions relating to the common foreign and security policy shall be adopted by the European Council and the Council of Ministers unanimously, except in the cases referred to in Part III. The European Council and the Council of Ministers shall act on a proposal from a Member State, from the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs or from that Minister with the Commission's support. European laws and European framework laws are excluded.
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Article 40: Specific provisions for implementing the common security and defence policy
1. The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall provide the Union with an operational capacity drawing on assets civil and military. (...)
2. The common security and defence policy shall include the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy. This will lead to a common defence, when the European Council, acting unanimously, so decides. (...)
3. Member States shall make civilian and military capabilities available to the Union for the implementation of the common security and defence policy, to contribute to the objectives defined by the Council of Ministers. Those Member States which together establish multinational forces may also make them available to the common security and defence policy. Member States shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities. A European Armaments, Research and Military Capabilities Agency shall be established to identify operational requirements, to promote measures to satisfy those requirements, to contribute to identifying and, where appropriate, implementing any measure needed to strengthen the industrial and technological base of the defence sector, to participate in defining a European capabilities and armaments policy, and to assist the Council of Ministers in evaluating the improvement of military capabilities.
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PART III: THE POLICIES AND FUNCTIONING OF THE UNION, TITLE V: THE UNION'S EXTERNAL ACTION, CHAPTER II: COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
Article III-195
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2. The Member States shall support the common foreign and security policy actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity. The Member States shall work together to enhance and develop their mutual political solidarity. They shall refrain from any action which is contrary to the interests of the Union or likely to impair its effectiveness as a cohesive force in international relations.
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Article III-197
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3. In fulfilling his or her mandate, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs shall be assisted by a European External Action Service. This service shall work in cooperation with the diplomatic services of the Member States.
Article III-198
1. Where the international situation requires operational action by the Union, the Council of Ministers shall adopt the necessary European decisions. Such decisions shall lay down the objectives, the scope, the means to be made available to the Union, if necessary the duration, and the conditions for implementation of the action. (...)
2. Such European decisions shall commit the Member States in the positions they adopt and in the conduct of their activity.
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Article III-205
1. The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs shall consult the European Parliament on the main aspects and the basic choices of the common foreign and security policy, including the common security and defence policy, and shall ensure that the views of the European Parliament are duly taken into consideration. The European Parliament shall be kept regularly informed by the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the development of the common foreign and security policy, including the common security and defence policy. Special representatives may be involved in briefing the European Parliament.
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Article III-206
1. Member States shall coordinate their action in international organisations and at international conferences. They shall uphold the Union's positions in such fora. (...)
2. (...) Member States which are also members of the United Nations Security Council shall concert and keep the other Member States and the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs fully informed. Member States which are members of the Security Council will, in the execution of their functions, defend the positions and the interests of the Union, without prejudice to their responsibilities under the provisions of the United Nations Charter. When the Union has defined a position on a subject which is on the United Nations Security Council agenda, those Member States which sit on the Security Council shall request that the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs be asked to present the Union's position.
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SECTION 1: THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY
Article III-210
1. The tasks referred to in Article I-40(1), in the course of which the Union may use civilian and military means, shall include joint disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and assistance tasks, conflict prevention and peace-keeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking and post-conflict stabilisation. All these tasks may contribute to the fight against terrorism, including by supporting third countries in combating terrorism in their territories.
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[Exclusive military ,,European core":]

PART I TITLE V: EXERCISE OF UNION COMPETENCE, Chapter II: Specific provisions
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Article 40: Specific provisions for implementing the common security and defence policy
6. Those Member States whose military capabilities fulfil higher criteria and which have made more binding commitments to one another in this area with a view to the most demanding missions shall establish structured cooperation within the Union framework. (...)
7. (...) In the execution of closer cooperation on mutual defence, the participating Member States shall work in close cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
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Chapter III: Enhanced cooperation
Article 43: Enhanced cooperation
1. Member States which wish to establish enhanced cooperation between themselves within the framework of the Union's non-exclusive competences may make use of its Institutions and exercise those competences by applying the relevant provisions of the Constitution, subject to the limits and in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Article and in Articles III-322 to III-329. Enhanced cooperation shall aim to further the objectives of the Union, protect its interests and reinforce its integration process. Such cooperation shall be open to all Member States when it is being established and at any time, in accordance with Article III-324.
2. Authorisation to proceed with enhanced cooperation shall be granted by the Council of Ministers as a last resort, when it has been established within the Council of Ministers that the objectives of such cooperation cannot be attained within a reasonable period by the Union as a whole, and provided that it brings together at least one third of the Member States. (...)
3. 3. Only members of the Council of Ministers representing the States participating in enhanced cooperation shall take part in the adoption of acts. All Member States may, however, take part in the deliberations of the Council of Ministers. Unanimity shall be constituted by the votes of the representatives of the participating States only.
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PART III: THE POLICIES AND FUNCTIONING OF THE UNION, TITLE V: THE UNION'S EXTERNAL ACTION, CHAPTER II: COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY, SECTION 1: THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY
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Article III-213
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2. If a Member State wishes to participate in such cooperation at a later stage, and thus subscribe to the obligations it imposes, it shall inform the European Council of its intention. The Council of Ministers shall deliberate at the request of that Member State. Only the members of the Council of Ministers that represent the Member States taking part in structured cooperation shall participate in the vote.
3. When the Council of Ministers adopts European decisions relating to matters covered by structured cooperation, only the members of the Council of Ministers that represent the Member States taking part in structured cooperation shall participate in the deliberations and the adoption of such decisions. The Union Minister for Foreign Affairs shall attend the deliberations. The representatives of the other Member States shall be duly and regularly informed by the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of developments in structured cooperation.
4. The Council of Ministers may ask the Member States participating in such cooperation to carry out at Union level a task referred to in Article III-210.
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Article III-326
2. Any Member State which wishes to participate in enhanced cooperation in the framework of the common foreign and security policy shall notify its intention to the Council of Ministers, the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Commission. The Council of Ministers shall confirm the participation of the Member State concerned, after consulting the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs. It shall note where necessary that any conditions of participation have been fulfilled. The Council of Ministers, on a proposal from the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, may also adopt any transitional measures deemed necessary with regard to the application of the acts already adopted within the framework of enhanced cooperation. However, if the Council of Ministers considers that any conditions of participation have not been fulfilled, it shall indicate the arrangements to be adopted to fulfil those conditions and shall set a deadline for re-examining the request for participation. For the purposes of this paragraph, the Council of Ministers shall act in accordance with Article I-43(3).
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Source:
Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, 18/07/2003, CONV 850/03; european-convention.eu.int