Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), commonly referred to as the European Constitution, was an unimplemented international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. It was signed in 2004 by representatives of the 25 member states of the Union but was subject to ratification by all member states. Most of them did so, by parliamentary ratification or by referendum, but two member states (France and the Netherlands) rejected it in referenda. Its main aims were to replace the overlapping set of existing treaties (see Treaties of the European Union) that compose the Union’s current informal constitution, to codify human rights throughout the EU and to streamline decision-making in what is now a 27-member organisation.
