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1 (March 7, 2005)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabciu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21757 Updated March 7, 2005 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web The European Union in 2005 and Beyond Kristin Archick Specialist in European Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary The European Union (EU) experienced significant changes in 2004 as it enlarged from 15 to 25 members and continued work on a new constitutional treaty to institute internal reforms and further EU political integration. In 2005, the EU is expected to build on these efforts and seek to implement several recent foreign policy and defense initiatives. This report describes the current status of the EU's constitution, EU enlargement, the EU's evolving foreign and defense policies, and possible implications for U.S.-EU relations. It will be updated as events warrant. For more information, see CRS Report RS21372, The European Union: Questions and Answers. The EU's Constitution Background. The European Union (EU) is a treaty-based, institutional framework that defines and manages political and economic cooperation among its 25 member states (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). In July 2003, European officials finished work on a draft constitution that merges the EU' s four existing treaties into a single document and lays out new proposals for institutional reform. The draft constitutional treaty was produced by the 105-member Convention on the Future of Europe, which had been charged with overhauling the EU's institutions and decision-making processes to enable an enlarged EU to function effectively. The Convention also sought to boost the EU's visibility on the world stage and to enhance the Union's democratic legitimacy. In October 2003, the EU convened an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to debate the proposals in the draft constitution and to codify any alterations of the EU's structures and functions in a new treaty. EU leaders had originally hoped to finalize the new constitutional treaty at their December 2003 summit in Brussels but were unable to do so because of a dispute over simplifying the EU's current, complex system of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV); Spain and Poland feared that the proposed double majority system would decrease their influence because it would give members with bigger populations an advantage. Congressional Research Service **o The Library of Congress

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