In October 2004, the EU countries signed a Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE). The text, which was to replace the existing treaties, was an outcome of a threeyear development. Its draft had been elaborated by the European Convention and amended during the Intergovernmental Conference. In the summer 2005 the Treaty was rejected by the referenda in France and in the Netherlands. This halted the ratification process and led to a “period of reflection”. That period ended late in 2006 when the Finnish EU Presidency held confidential talks among the Member States on the Treaty in order to prepare the German Presidency in its task to re-launch the process.

Please click here for a report on the constitutional date from the Church and Society Commission (now merged with CEC).