Is the New EU Constitution More Like the US Constitution or the Articles of Confed.?

Factual Questions
1

I’m hoping that this can be a factual question without going into GD. Anyway, I’ve seen some of the commentary on the new EU Constitution, and I’m trying to compare it to a system I know already. (I really don’t have the time and inclination to slog through it.) The way I’ve seen it described, it seems like it is not setting up a very strong central government; that there is the desire for the identity and power of the individual States to override and not give much power to the overall EU government.

Now, to me, this sounds a lot closer to the Articles of Confederation than the US Constitution. After all, the Articles were specifically written to limit the power of the federal government to the point where (if I am remembering correctly) it didn’t have the power to levy taxes, raise an army, or create money. Compare that to the much stronger US Constitution, where the point is, in part, creating a strong federal government.

So, is my feeling right that right now the proposed EU Constitution is closer to the Articles of Confederation?

Oh, and as a related question, has there been anything along the lines of the Federalist Papers going around in the EU member nations?

2

Short and simple answer: The EU constitution does more resemble the Articles of Confederation. You’ve already given a good explanation why.

3

If you mean between nations, not so much. Within nations, absolutely- ever since the Maastricht Treaty was first drafted European Union has been in the top five public agenda items.

However, in today’s world, the EU debate has been mostly composed of television soundbites and press releases, rather than scholarly or legal journals. The public doesn’t read that stuff, so politicians aren’t hugely keen on putting their thoughts into them.