Caroline Lucas on the EU constitution

As Europe's leaders gathered in Rome to sign the new EU constitution seven politicians and business leaders gave their thoughts on what it could mean for Britain.

Charles Kennedy Lib Dem leader "Nothing in constitution can force Britain into single currency" Jack Straw Foreign Secretary "EU constitution strengthens role of national governments" Caroline Lucas Green Party MEP "It marks a dark day in the history of European Union"

Michael Ancram Shadow foreign secretary "Countries have constitutions; nation states make treaties" Roger Knapman UKIP leader "Successive Labour and Tory governments signed away British rights" Lord Haskins Businessman and Labour adviser "EU has delivered unprecedented peace to western Europe "

Paul Sykes
Businessman and
Tory supporter

"Brussels is a
government trying
to build a nation

Caroline Lucas

Ms Lucas' party will campaign for a 'no' vote

This week Tony Blair has joined heads of government from the EU's 25 member states at a signing ceremony in Rome, which marks the beginning of the legal process by which the EU will adopt its proposed new constitution.

The ceremony will be a somewhat muted affair, taking place in the shadow of the ongoing power struggle between the European Parliament - the EU's only directly-elected institution - and the commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

That's over the appointment of Italian commissioner-designate Rocco Buttiglione to the post of justice commissioner, responsible for upholding the union's anti-discrimination law, despite his unashamed and publicly-stated belief that homosexuality is a sin and Aids a divine punishment.

Muted it may be, but the ceremony marks the start of the process of adopting a flawed, unpopular treaty which will take the EU further from the goals of social and environmental justice which underpin its popular support, at least in the UK.

Nuclear energy

As such, it marks a dark day in the history of the EU.

This constitution will take the EU further down the road of economic neo-liberalism and require member states to increase their military spending and continue to promote the nuclear energy industry.

The EU faces a crisis of democratic confidence.

The need for radical reform to place social and environmental justice at the heart of a transparent and democratically accountable EU has never been greater - but this proposed constitution is a step away from, not towards, these goals.

Accountability?

Blair has promised that the UK will be one of ten member states to put the new constitution to a popular referendum before ratification, and the Green party will be campaigning hard for a 'No' vote.

At its recent conference, the party decided that despite some improvements - notably the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the provision to make the EU a signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights - the draft represents a step away from the Greens' vision of a sustainable, democratically accountable EU.

The constitutional treaty which Blair signed this week will commit all EU member states to increase their military capability, and retains the Euratom Treaty, which commits states to promoting the dangerous and deeply unpopular nuclear energy industry, as an annexe.

Above all, the constitution represents a missed opportunity to reconnect the EU with citizens of all its member states by redefining its powers and scope, as envisaged in the Laeken Declaration of 2001.

It represents a step away from the vision of the EU shared by Greens and UK citizens fed up with the European Commission's undemocratic abuse of the notion of subsidiarity - and as such UK Greens will be campaigning for a 'No' vote.

Yes to Europe - but no to the constitution.