Parliament to discuss draft EU constitution

THE SLOVAK parliament will discuss the country's stance on the draft of the EU constitution before the summit of heads of states and governments, which will begin June 17, the private news agency SITA wrote.

Pavol Hrušovský, the speaker of parliament, said that he would probably call a special session or put the issue on the agenda of the regular parliamentary meeting starting June 16.

Slovakia will not insist on preserving the model of decision making by qualified majority according to the weight of votes, which was agreed upon in Nice. Slovakia is also no longer pushing the principle of 'one country, one commissioner'. The European Commission with 25 commissioners should work until 2014, and afterwards there should be 18 commissioners. The countries would change so that each country has a commissioner for two out of every three terms of office.

Slovakia will, however, push for the mention of Christian values in the preamble to the constitution, joining with the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, and Italy in the initiative.

Slovakia also insists on preserving unanimous decision-making on taxes, foreign and defence policies, and justice and home affairs, enabling each member to block a decision in the event of disagreement.

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