Home > The Constitution > Negotiation Stage

An Intergovernmental Conference under Italian EU Presidency began in Rome on the 4th of October with the task of approving the Draft Treaty, ending in Brussels on the 13th of December 2003. Despite high initial hopes, agreement was not reached due to differences over the size and composition of the Commission and the definition and scope of qualified majority voting (QMV). A new push, led by the Irish Presidency inaugurated on 1 January, strove to complete the negotiation phase by June 2004. Official enlargement of the EU to 25 member states on 1 May 2004 was another major EU milestone coinciding with this constitutional moment. After heated negotiations, an agreement was finally reached on 18 June 2004. The following is a list of official documents generated during the negotiation process.

PROCEDURAL PAPERS

INSTITUTIONS

POLICY AND OTHER AREAS

TREATIES

GOVERNMENT POSITIONS

CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS

NATIONAL DEBATES AND POSITIONS

(Note: "Summaries" attached to some documents are elaborated by the EU Observer website, which also includes a wealth of commentary and news on the constitution-making process. The final few IGC documents are also listed by the EU Observer here).