MEPs urged to sell EU constitution to sceptical electorate

EU leaders defended their proposed constitution today against criticism that it will create a European superstate, and urged MEPs to do all they can to sell it to an increasingly sceptical public.

In addresses to the new 732 MEPs in Strasbourg, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende – the former and current holders of the EU’s rotating presidency – sought to dampen fears that the treaty would take too much power from Europe’s national governments.