By IPS Correspondents
BRUSSELS, Sep 10 2003 (IPS)

Civil society groups have criticised the British government for backing what they see as an anti-poor constitution for the European Union.

As British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw presented a white paper to parliament on the issue Tuesday, a broad-based movement of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) called on the British government to back instead a pro- poor, pro-human rights agenda for European Union (EU) external relations.

The first constitution for the EU drawn up this year by the Convention on the Future of Europe is designed to centralise decision-making before the bloc takes on 10 new members in May next year. The Convention included representatives from each of the EU’s 15 member states and 10 candidate countries. It was chaired by former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing.

The Convention proposes inclusion of development cooperation into a new Common Foreign and Security Council (CFSP). The plan envisages appointment of a minister for foreign affairs who will also be in charge of EU development aid. The draft text of the treaty describes development cooperation as an "instrument" of EU "external action".

The constitution would be "good for Britain and good for Europe," British Prime Minister Tony Blair says in a foreword to the white paper. He said the proposals would lead to a "more effective" EU, which also promotes national interests.. But he stressed that the EU should not become a superstate.

The British government fundamentally supports the constitution, but it wants some proposals such as those on taxation to be amended. The British white paper is the first complete response to the proposals since they were presented in July. It is expected to set the stage for months of debate.

Representing a network of more than 270 NGOs working in international development, BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development) expressed concern that the negotiation of a new treaty risks marginalising Europe’s commitment to development, and subordinating development to a narrowly defined policy agenda.

"We are disappointed that its drafting has been very secretive, and there has been no consultation with civil society on it," Howard Mollet, EU campaigns officer at BOND told IPS.

British representative to the Convention Peter Hain clarified in a statement, however, that the Convention was not a final document. "One effect of the white paper will be to show the remaining areas where we will have to negotiate the fine print to make sure we safeguard our interests," he said.

BOND used the publication of the white paper as an opportunity to express its main concerns over the constitution. It said that humanitarian aid must be safeguarded from the control of the European Community (EC, the executive arm of the EU).

The group said also that EC aid should be founded on a commitment to democratic ownership and partnership of development cooperation, and allocation re-targeted at Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Last weekend a large majority of the 25 member states of an enlarged EU said they want to renegotiate the draft European constitution.

At an informal meeting of European foreign ministers in Riva del Garda in Italy Sep. 5-7, only the six founding members of the EU – France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – fully defended the draft constitution.

Some of the most contentious issues that came up at the Riva del Garda meeting were plans to create an EU foreign minister, a change in the voting system, and abolition of the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council.

Negotiations over a new constitution are due to be opened by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at an intergovernmental conference in Rome October 4. The negotiations are intended to giving members a chance to offer their inputs into any amendment of the constitution.

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