Tories condemn Straw's proposals for an EU constitution

British proposals for a written constitution for the European Union will act as a bulwark against an EU "superstate", Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, insisted yesterday.

But the Tories accused Labour of dropping its opposition to a constitution as part of a plan to take Britain into a "United States of Europe".

Michael Ancram, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said Mr Straw's plan, outlined in a speech in Edinburgh, contradicted the Government's previous pledge that any charter would not be legally binding.

"This is yet another sell-out of British interests in an attempt to curry favour with European integration," Mr Ancram said.

"It underlines the fact that this Government is totally committed to the creation of a politically united Europe and emphasises the importance of our campaign to argue for a flexible partnership of sovereign nation states in Europe within which we can retain our right to self-determination, which Blair and Straw are so keen to betray."

Mr Straw dismissed the criticism as "nonsense", insisting that his plan had "nothing to do with a European superstate". He said: " All kinds of organisations have constitutions, including the Conservative Party."

The Foreign Secretary said having a "basic rulebook" for the EU would act as a bulwark against integration by enshrining the rule that functions should be handled by national governments where possible.

The EU already had a constitution with a small 'c' in its existing governing treaties, Mr Straw said. "I just want to point out that if you have a constitution, it doesn't automatically mean you have signed up to every last dot and comma of a European super-state."

"A constitution is a set of basic rules, a framework for the operation of that institution. Part of the problem with Europe at the moment is that you can't turn to a single document and see all these set out in a basic framework with the law for those institutions."

He added: "I hope that what we do debate about is not whether there should be a constitution ... but what should be in it, which is the really critical issue."

In his speech, Mr Straw said a constitution should form part of the new EU treaty being drawn up by a convention headed by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president, and which is due by 2004. The rulebook should be written for ordinary people, not Europe's political élite, he said.

"There is a case for a constitution which enshrines a simple set of principles, sets out in plain language what the EU is for, and how it can add value, and reassures the public that national governments will remain the primary source of political legitimacy.

"This would not only improve the EU's capacity to act, it would help to reconnect European voters with the institutions which act in their name," he said.

Mr Straw also proposed a "subsidiarity watchdog" of MPs from member states to watch out for "unjustified" EU legislation. The Tories welcomed the idea, claiming they had thought of it first.

Ian Davidson, MP for Glasgow Pollok and chairman of Labour Against the Euro, said Mr Straw was attempting to "drum up support for the euro", which he described as "trying to breathe life into a corpse".