Preparing the EU for 2004

The debate about the future of Europe is supposed to consider how the Union will function after enlargement. In practice, the agenda set at Laeken addresses longstanding institutional problems, but does not pay sufficient attention to the qualitative changes that enlargement will bring. Before 2004, the EU urgently needs to reform the European Council, the rotating presidency, and the organisation of its foreign policy-making. It should also increase the involvement of national parliaments. The Union should produce a short and clear constitutional document to set out its aims and explain the added value of European integration, for the benefit of its current citizens and those that are soon to join.