Weeding out misconceptions

Three misconceptions in particular need correcting. One is that the convention is everything, and whatever it produces next month will be what EU governments vote on. In fact, governments will use its draft as the basis for their subsequent negotiations. The second is that the convention is an undemocratic stitch-up. A main reason for convening such a working group was to include in it national and EU parliamentarians who normally have no input into treaty revisions.
But the biggest misconception is that the convention draft marks a bigger integrationist step than the 1987 Single European Act (expanding majority voting) and the 1992 Maastricht treaty (introducing the euro and foreshadowing a common EU defence), neither of which Tory governments put to a referendum. The real wrangle this time is over the balance of power between the various EU institutions, precisely in order to keep the EU working when its membership rises to 25 next year.

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