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The Convention was a radical departure from the way things are normally done in Europe. It was large, pluralistic and open, combining in its working methods the best of both parliamentary and diplomatic styles. By involving the European Parliament in constitutional reform it broke a taboo. MEPs played a key role at each of Giscard's three phases of the Convention, 'listening', 'analysis' and 'drafting'. By involving national parliamentarians, the Convention helped to recruit a new generation of MPs to a better understanding of and identification with European unity. By involving representatives of candidate states, the Convention proved to be first-class training ground for the newcomers into the wiles and wherewithal of EU politics. By forcing government ministers to say more or less the same thing in Brussels as they said at home, and by obliging them to justify their positions in public, the Convention was refreshingly subversive.

The consensus formed at the end of the life of the Convention was large, fresh and genuine. Nobody left triumphant. All had compromised. Most had refined if not realigned their positions.

The Constitution sets out clearly the Union's values and objectives. They are liberal, democratic and progressive. The Constitution, which can be found in full at http://european-convention.eu.int, has clarified who does what in Europe. It strengthens the capacity of the Union to act effectively at home and abroad. It establishes a single legal personality for the EU, and creates a new post of Foreign Minister combining the current powers of Commissioner Chris Patten and Javier Solana, High Representative of the Council. The Minister, a Vice-President of the Commission, will chair the Foreign Affairs Council and manage a single foreign affairs administration. This key reform should allow Europe to speak with more unity and purpose in world affairs.

European citizenship takes a leap forward, protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights which, despite fierce British opposition, will be installed at the heart of the Constitution and be binding. The untidy jumble of instruments and decision-making procedures has been streamlined. There is for the first time a proper hierarchy of legislative and executive acts, with a new class of secondary law delegated to the Commission, subject to scrutiny and callback by the two chambers of the legislature, Parliament and Council. The huge pile of former treaties and protocols is cut down by about two-thirds.

The Council will take many more decisions by qualified majority voting (QMV), and the Parliament's powers both of legislative and budgetary co-decision and of assent over international trade agreements has been multiplied. Tortuous arithmetic for establishing QMV has been changed to the simple formula of half the member states representing three-fifths of the population.

The Commission's prerogatives to initiate draft law have been preserved, and it has won a new power to propose a multi-annual work programme to be decided at the strategic level by the European Council. The clumsy 'third pillar' of Maastricht in justice and home affairs has been quietly demolished. Normal institutional procedures, including the supervision of the Court of Justice, will now apply in this area.

Expect more differentiation in the enlarged Union. The Constitution makes it easier for a core group of member states to go forward faster and farther in any given policy area. The eurogroup is ready and waiting to deepen economic integration between themselves. In defence, France and Germany appear to want to lead a number of close partners towards the creation of truly integrated European armed forces. These are good ideas.

Many bad ideas were suppressed by the Convention. The British effort to re-create a third legislative chamber made up of national MPs was roundly defeated, as was Giscard's own plan for a People's Congress. The UK government's plan for a super-president of the European Council who would supervise the work of the Council and the Commission has been watered down to such an extent that one should not wait for a rush of job applications.

Of course, not everything in the Constitution is perfect. Some good in principle decisions - notably, the separation of legislative from executive functions - were not carried through to their logical conclusion with rigour. While almost everyone spoke in favour of more QMV in the Council, many member states brought their own list of exceptions and derogations. Had it not been for the UK, there would have been more QMV in foreign policy, in fiscal policy where administrative cooperation, tax fraud and tax evasion are concerned, and in social policy for the protection of the rights of sacked workers. The decision to move to QMV over the multi-annual financial framework was postponed, at the insistence of the Spanish, for another ten years. (Watch out, therefore, for a big increase in the size of the EU budget.) The role of the Court is extended to enhance the rights of individuals to challenge the legality of regulatory acts that directly affect them, but the Court is still circumscribed in foreign, security and defence policy.

The proposals made for the appointment and job specification for the 'full-time' President of the European Council still threaten to induce institutionalised rivalries with the Commission, the Council of Ministers, the Foreign Minister and even the European Council itself. Likewise, the method of appointment of the Commission, including its President, and the change to the shape, size and composition of the college leave much to be desired. That these less than optimal reforms appear in the Constitution is not a deliberate mistake by the Convention, but, rather, an admission that they were the best compromises that the Convention could reach. They will be put to the test of time and experience, and may very well be found wanting.

Little progress was made on the future revision and entry into force procedures. The Union therefore remains effectively trapped in the dual lock imposed by Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union, namely, unanimity at the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) followed by national ratification in all 25 member states.

The European Council has accepted the Convention's draft as the basis for their negotiations at the IGC. The conference begins on 4 October and is expected to be over by Christmas. The Constitution will be signed in early May 2004 by all 25 member states.

ELDR is insisting that the IGC does not unpick the proposals of the Convention. The draft Constitution is not only much better than the Treaty of Nice but also superior to anything that another classical IGC could have produced on its own. The success of the Convention has killed off the old IGC method. Any attempt by the imminent IGC to re-open the Nice dossier, for example, with regard to voting weights in the Council, will be bound to produce greatly inferior results. What it was not possible to settle amicably among 15 member states at the Nice IGC will prove intractable with 25 at the Rome IGC.

Nevertheless, Liberals have requests to make of the IGC. The Convention did not have the time or the mandate to deal in detail with the revision of Part III of the Constitution, which comprises the Treaty of Rome. Several of the policy chapters need both modernising and simplifying - for example, the objectives of the common agricultural policy and the modalities of employment policy. Some aggiornamento would be desirable, and in particular:

• There must be no regression from the Convention's consensus in Parts I and II of the Constitution, and no regression from the existing treaties in Part III, which must itself be rendered wholly consistent with Parts I and II.

• The evolutive clauses allowing gradual progression to more QMV and the eventual integration of the presidencies of the Commission and of the executive formations of the Council must be fiercely protected.

• It would be excellent to scoop a modest extension of QMV in the field of common foreign and security policy when initiatives of the Foreign Minister were supported by the Commission, according to Article III-189.2. (Amend Article III-196.2(b)).

• QMV (and the ordinary legislative procedure) should be introduced to pass laws or framework laws for harmonising measures in the field of indirect taxation relating to administrative cooperation, tax fraud and tax evasion, provided that they are necessary for the functioning of the internal market and to avoid distortion of competition. (Amend Article III-59.2).

• In the field of social policy, QMV (and the ordinary legislative procedure) should be extended to Article III-99(d) for the protection of dismissed workers. (Amend Article III-99.3)

• There should be a widening of the scope of the European Court of Justice in CFSP, in particular with respect to EU agencies. Article III-278 should be amended to extend the role of the Court in CFSP to Article III-266.2 (legality of acts solely in cases brought by a Member State), Article III-268 (procedures), and Article III-272 (damages).

• As far as Part IV of the Constitution is concerned, the procedures for the future revision of the Constitution should be modified in those cases where the institutional balance is not altered, competences are not shifted and the Charter is not affected. (Amend Article IV-6)

• And, finally, a Declaration should be added to the Constitution that establishes a political commitment to modify Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union should one or more member states block the entry into force of the Constitution. (Add Declaration to Article IV-7)

Our purpose is to facilitate decision making in the enlarged Union, to strengthen the rule of law and to bring the Constitution to life. By adopting these proposals the IGC would be responding to the mainstream of the Convention and to the public need for a more capable and democratic European Union.

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Andrew is Vice-President of the European Parliament delegation to the Constitutional Convention on the Future of Europe.

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