Speaker Lipponen to join group examining fate of EU Constitution
Former prime ministers discuss saving treaty
Giuliano Amato
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Paavo Lipponen
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Finland’s Speaker of Parliament Paavo Lipponen (SDP) is to join a group of 10-12 members set up to ponder the fate of the proposed constitution of the European Union.
Lipponen, who was in Rome on Thursday, said that he took on the post after Italy’s Minister of the Interior Giuliano Amato asked him to.
"Amato is compiling the group. The whole project is his initiative - not that of the Italian government. The group will comprise 10 to 12 people, all of them former Prime Ministers or members of the Commission", he said.
"I am happy to be along", Lipponen said, after a one-hour meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
Lipponen said that he was planning to inform Prime minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) about the matter. From Rome Lipponen flew to London for more meetings.
Amato’s group plans to start its work soon, and in the late spring, it is to submit a report to the government of Germany, which will hold the EU Presidency at the time.
"The group exists only for the sake of the constitutional treaty", Lipponen said. The team will not discuss the condition of the EU in general.
Lipponen also said that the Finnish government will hold discussions on the EU’s draft constitution with all member states during the Finnish EU Presidency. However, the Finnish government will not draft any reports on the discussions - instead, it will submit its information to the German government.
Lipponen emphasises that Amato’s project is a private one - even the financing is coming from outside the EU coffers. The work is to be done in conjunction with the University of Florence.
"We are not stepping on anyone’s toes", Lipponen said.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 8.9.2006 - TODAY |
 Speaker Lipponen to join group examining fate of EU Constitution
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