Introduction: After teachers and students study and analyze the history leading up to the potential ratification of the EU constitution, they should next carefully analyze the actual document presently being considered by EU member nations. The teacher should download a copy of the document from the official EU website, and then give out as much of it as the teacher thinks is appropriate for his/her students.

Objective #1: Students should analyze the critical provisions of the proposed EU constitution

In evaluating the proposed EU constitution, students should identify the following key provisions:

The EU is a union of member states, and that the competencies (areas of responsibility) of the EU are voluntary given to it by the member states by the principal of conferral. Governmental functions not specifically mentioned in the EU constitution remain in the hands of the member states.

By the principle of subsidiarity, the Constitution states that the EU can only make laws when the EU nations agree unanimously that actions by individual countries are insufficient.

A member state of the EU cannot pass a law that is counter to a law already made by the European Union.

The European Union has six exclusive competencies; these are areas in which member states have given exclusive authority to the EU. These include the areas of creating a common commercial policy, the maintenance of a eurozone monetary policy, competition rules for the internal EU market, conservation of marine biological resources, maintenance of the EU customs union, and the negotiation of certain international agreement.

There are a number of shared competencies; for these member countries agree to act only when they have not previously acted through the EU, or in areas where the EU is not active. Among these are the areas of energy issues, space exploration, and territorial cohesion.

Member states will cooperate with each other in certain criminal and judicial areas; these include fraud, drug sale and trafficking, arms sale and trafficking, terrorism, trafficking in persons, crimes committed against children, and corruption.

By terms of the solidarity clause, any EU member that is subject to a terrorist attack or other disaster will receive assistance from other member states if the country in question requests assistance.

By terms of the principal of qualified majority voting, routine decisions of the Council of Ministers of the EU require approval of 55% of the member states; this 55% must represent a 65% majority of the citizens. When the Council of Ministers is acting on its own initiative rather than on a legislative proposal the figure of 55% is raised to 72%. For major decisions, unanimous consent of all member states is still required.

The heads of participating states will choose the President of the European Council; the President is in office for eighteen months, and is renewable for an additional term. The position of the President of the European Council is administrative and non-executive.

Parliaments of member states can analyze any proposed EU law and object if they feel the law is outside of the boundaries of the EU as established in the EU constitution.

It is possible to have enhanced cooperation, in which certain member states may decide to work closely together while others do not. Two thirds of member states must participate in any enhanced cooperation, which also must be approved by the European Union.

(Note: This is only a partial list of the important provisions of the EU constitution. Teachers and students may want to analyze more of the structure of the EU as outlined in the EU constitution).

Objective #2: Students should identify major controversies concerning provisions of the proposed EU constitution.

Some of the questions surrounding the proposed new constitution include:

Its length: The entire constitution is nearly 265 pages in length. Have students discuss why a document of this length may be necessary for the EU.

The issue of qualified majority voting: previously, all decisions made by the Council of Ministers had to be approved by majority vote. Discuss the ramifications of this change.

The issue of national sovereignty: the constitution states that in some cases laws of the EU take precedence over laws passed by member states. Opponents of the EU lament this loss of national sovereignty: have students discuss the benefits of this policy.

The lack of democracy in the EU: the European parliament, which is directly elected by citizens of the member countries, cannot propose new laws, while other institutions, such as the European Commission, is not elected and has more power. Students should analyze sections of the document to determine how democratic the EU actually is.

Militarism: a provision of the Constitution states that "Member States shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities". Ask students if this will encourage an unnecessary arms buildup by member states. Supporters of the constitution note that the document states that EU military actions should be for "peace-keeping, conflict prevention, and strengthening international security."

Unanimity Requirement: by the terms of the Constitution a unanimous consent of member countries will be necessary to change the document in the future. Ask students to discuss the ramifications of this policy.

Timing: Some critics state that many of the new members of the newer members of the EU (especially in Eastern Europe) are relative newcomers to national sovereignty; is it appropriate to have these countries give up parts of their national sovereignty to the EU before they have really developed it on their own? Have students discuss this very important question.

Evaluation: Students should construct an essay or make a poster explaining the structure of the European Union as outlined in the proposed constitution. The class should conduct a debate on the constitution based on the issues noted above, and propose changes to the document agreed upon by majority vote of the class.