What's the European Constitution?

June 1, 2005 -- -- As the European Union grew from six to 12 to 25, Europe's leaders decided to overhaul its institutions. In 2002, they launched a "constitutional convention" chaired by a former French president, with delegates from all members and members-to-be.

Six countries have already approved the resulting constitution; votes are pending in others.

The Netherlands voted overwhelmingly against the constitution -- 62 percent No to 38 percent Yes -- in today's referendum with a parliamentary vote scheduled later in the year. This comes on the heels of France voting no in a referendum three days ago. In Germany, the constitution will not go before voters; parliament approved the treaty.

Constitutional Treaty: After a first draft failure in 2003, a final draft of the EU Constitution was approved in 2005. The constitutional treaty, a 40-page document with 458 articles, doesn't replace national constitutions. It was created after much compromise between making the EU work better and maintaining national sovereignties, and reassuring smaller states that they would have a say against the larger founding members.

EU's Birth: The European Union was founded in the 1950s as the "European Communities." The idea of European integration was conceived to prevent the killing and destruction that occurred during World War II.

There were six member states: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In the early years, much of the cooperation between EU countries was about trade and the economy. Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in 1973; Greece in 1981; and Spain and Portugal in 1986. Reunification of Germany in 1990 brought in East Germany. And as the union grew, so did cooperation between countries. Borders were abolished and student exchanges flourished.

Growing Union: In 1992, a new treaty gave new powers and responsibilities to the community institutions and introduced new forms of cooperation between the member state governments, thus creating the European Union as such. The 12-member EU was enlarged in 1995 to include Austria, Finland and Sweden.

The 12 members became even more linked with the adoption of the euro (putting an end to Deutsch marks and French francs) in January 2002.

The 2004 enlargement brought in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

The union now has 25 members. Bulgaria and Romania are expected to join in 2007. Turkey, too, is a candidate.