Current status concerning EU Constitution:
• Bundestag and Bundesrat ratified the EU Constitution on 11 May and 27 May 2005, respectively. The German President has yet to complete the ratification process.
• Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear she will re-launch the Constitution during Germany’s Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2007.
UPDATES
• 16 June 2006: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the Brussels EU Summit (15-16 June) that it was "urgently necessary that [the EU] reaches consensus" before the 2009 European elections. We need “to say clearly what we require for Europe... for that we need the Constitution”. (Direction Générale de l'Information, European Parliament, Brussels)
• 05 May 2006: According to the Eurobarometer results:
- 52% think their country's EU membership is "a good thing".
- 32% chose "a common constitution" when asked to choose two from six options concerning what "would be most helpful for the Future of Europe" (second highest)
- 34% chose "a common constitution" when asked to choose two from six options concerning what "would strengthen your feelings about being a European citizen."
Snippets:
• 11 May 2006: Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Bundestag: "We absolutely need the Constitution to ensure the European Union is effective and capable of action... [...]. We need to think about how we make the Constitution a success. I want the Constitution, the German government wants the Constitution and I think a majority of this parliament wants it too."
• Angela Merkel believes that the whole text of the Constitution should remain intact, adding only a declaration on the "social dimension of Europe" to appease the French and Dutch voters.