EU: The Convention on the Future of Europe is expected to leave its draft EU constitution broadly unchanged when its ends its final special session in Brussels today, writes Denis Staunton in Brussels
Germany yesterday won its struggle to retain the national veto on access to work for immigrants policy but the foreign minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, appeared to abandon Berlin's hopes of abolishing the veto in foreign policy.
The Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, Mr Antonio Vitorino, welcomed the changes proposed yesterday by the convention's praesidium.
"This is in line with the Commission's proposals. Justice and Home Affairs issues will be decided by qualified majority but the member-states will decide on the number of immigrants who are seeking work," he said.
Ireland is unhappy with the extent of qualified majority voting in Justice and Home Affairs proposed by the draft, but the Government's representative at the Convention, Mr Dick Roche, said that the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) starting in October will offer an opportunity to improve the draft. "There are lots of areas where there are imperfections," he said.
A number of MEPs and national parliamentarians called for the extension of qualified majority voting to foreign policy.
But Mr Fischer's tone was restrained, saying that such an outcome would please him but calling on the convention to leave the "wise compromise" agreed last month intact. France's representative, Ms Pascale Andreani, claimed widespread backing among EU governments for Paris' drive to have a national right of veto on trade decisions involving transport, culture, education and health services enshrined in the constitution.