(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Two Swedish experts in EU law, Ulf Öberg and Jörgen Hettne, state that the proposal for a EU constitution fundamentally changes Sweden's state system.
The two experts welcome the constitution – but do not like the dishonesty of the Swedish yes side. It is time that it clearly states to Swedish citizens which EU Sweden Sweden is actually a member of.
Öberg and Hettne appreciate that the draft constitution clarifies the distribution of power between the Union and the Member States, that EU law takes precedence over Swedish law, and that the ECJ becomes the supreme court in the case of fundamental civil rights.
Swedish constitution an "accident"
The Swedish constitution was changed as late as last year, and it is stated that the Riksdag can only transfer decision-making power to the EU if it "does not affect the principles of the state system." Öberg and Hettne think that the change was poorly thought out, yes, quite frankly "unhappy."
The Swedish Government argues that the draft Constitution does not apply to the principles of the Swedish state system. To that, the two experts on EU law respond that then that sentence in the Constitution has no meaning whatsoever.
No state regime is intact
They go so far as to believe that the draft constitution does not leave the state system of any member state intact. The proposed constitution means that it is the EU body that decides which decisions can be taken by the Riksdag and which can be taken by the EU, that decisions in the Riksdag must give way to EU decisions in a large number of cases, and that the European Court of Justice has the right to to interpret the constitution if there should be disagreement about how it should be perceived. All this affects both the Swedish government, the Riksdag and Swedish courts – and then the state system is different than before.
- The constitution must be changed
For Öberg and Hettne it is easiest to change the Swedish constitution so that it states that Sweden is a member of the European Union. Thus, EU membership becomes a fundamental principle of the Swedish state system.
On the practical level, they advocate the closure of the European Parliament to the Riksdag and that the EU issues are dealt with in the ordinary trade unions. In the long run, it is unsustainable that the government can rely on one majority to pursue domestic politics (the Left Party and the Environment Party) and on another to pursue EU policy (the bourgeois parties), two state law experts believe.
The heads of government decide
A constitution for the EU is scheduled to be adopted in the autumn of 2003. It will replace all the treaties that have hitherto been the legal basis for the EU; The Treaty of Rome of 1957, the Single Act of 1986, the Maastricht Treaty of 1991, the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997 and the Nice Treaty of 2000.
The proposal from the Convention will be discussed at a so-called intergovernmental conference that started in Rome on October 4 and which is scheduled to end at the EU summit in Brussels 12-14. December. Such an intergovernmental conference is a series of meetings, some at the ministerial level, most at the official level, which concludes with the meeting of the heads of government that makes the final decision. Twenty-five states, both the fifteen EU states and the ten states that join the EU from 1 May 2004, will participate in this IGC.
