EU constitution 'not essential'

Ten countries join the EU next year

Jack Straw has said "life would go on" if Europe's leaders failed to agree on an EU constitution.

But the UK foreign secretary conceded that a failure to overhaul the EU's treaties would hamper its operation when 10 new states join next year.

He was speaking at a two-day conference of EU ministers in Naples which aims to hammer out areas such as tax and foreign policy in the new constitution.

Mr Straw said: "I am not saying it doesn't matter but life would go on.

"If a new treaty could not be ratified ... the EU would not collapse," he added during an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The argument for change is to make enlargement work however if it happened that the convention process ran into the ground and one country or another did not ratify it then I said to put it bluntly that would not be the end of the world."

Reject Italian draft?

The foreign secretary conceded that "things would not be as satisfactory as we think it could be with this new constitution".

But Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell accused the Mr Straw of being "disingenuous".

"An EU without a constitution would be a recipe for sclerosis, obstructionism and, ultimately, instability," he said.

"We need a constitution that sets out clearly the powers and responsibilities of individual member states and of the Union itself.

"Britain should be doing everything it can to bring this about."

The government has already said it will reject an Italian draft of the new European Constitution because it would remove member states' veto on foreign policy.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the draft by Italy, which holds the EU presidency, is unacceptable.

All 25 governments must agree on the text before the treaty can be put into effect.

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The UK government has always said that control over foreign policy is one of its so-called "red line" issues, where it will not give up its veto.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the Italian draft would be rejected in its current form, but remained the basis for more discussions by EU foreign ministers in Naples on Friday.

On Tuesday, it emerged that Britain might not reach an agreement with its European Union partners about a new constitution.

A senior government source said that while the constitution was "highly desirable" it was not essential.

The Conservatives have led calls for a referendum on the constitution but the government has so far rejected the idea saying it would not fundamentally alter the UK's constitution.