Faint-hearted and far from the heart of Europe

One year ago, the British government opposed the very idea of a European Constitution. So the fact that it has now not only accepted the principle, but advanced a draft text of such a document and is the only EU government to have done so, represents progress on the grand scale, progress that we welcome.

The document itself, however, shows just how far the Government is still falling short of its pledge to be at the heart of Europe. The draft was commissioned by the Foreign Office from a Cambridge law professor, Alan Dashwood. Co-opting the legal specialists may have been a sensible option. But yesterday, the Europe Minister, Peter Hain, insisted that the conclusions were "an independent contribution" to Mr Giscard d'Estaing's commission on the future of Europe.

This may be a protective manoeuvre to fend off comparisons between the commission's final document and the British proposals but it smacks of a lack of commitment. Something similar could be said of the content. A document whose express purpose is to provide the framework for keeping Europe together is, in fact, as much about guarantees of separation as it is about togetherness. This is not wholly a bad thing. Britain is not the only EU country to envisage a Europe in which only some sovereignty is pooled, within defined limits, and governments retain most of their power.

The tone of the British draft, however, is defensive, as though it has set out to define what the European Union is not, rather than what it is or might become. The closest it comes to any vision or idealism is in the opening "proclamation". Even here, though, the language is leaden and the ambitions for Europe heavily circumscribed.

It is right that Britain should make a timely contribution to the debate about the future of Europe and help to set the parameters in which that debate is conducted. And the British draft is right to advocate, as it does, a commitment to decision-making that is as open and as close to the people as possible. The pity is that, as so often, the Government sounds so faint-hearted in its embrace of Europe.