BRITAIN: A written constitution to make the EU more accountable and more power for state governments were among proposals for reform unveiled by the Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw.
In a keynote speech yesterday in The Hague, Mr Straw set out Britain's approach to reform ahead of next week's Convention on the Future of Europe - which will review EU practices as it prepares for expansion - telling his audience the EU must build a "bridge of understanding" with its citizens.
Calling for a "statement of principles" or constitution establishing the EU's role and the responsibilities of member-states, while ensuring the European Commission did not rule on matters reserved to national governments, Mr Straw said he did not want to get "hung up about the labels". In an interview with BBC radio ahead of the speech, Mr Straw supported a written constitution in principle, but insisted what mattered was its content.
But Mr Straw's speech would lead to a "supranational" Europe, reducing the ultimate authority of nation states, shadow foreign secretary Mr Michael Ancram claimed.
Arguing member-states should have a greater role in EU affairs in his speech, Mr Straw suggested a revised role for the Council of Ministers, ending the rotating six-month presidencies and having chairs by different nationalities in each specialist council. At the same time as cutting the number of councils from 16 to 10, the chair of each could serve for up to 2½ years, Mr Straw said.
Meanwhile the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and the Health Secretary, Mr Alan Milburn, signalled taxes would have to rise to pay for improvements to the NHS.
Ahead of April's Budget, Mr Blair said if Britain wanted sustained investment in the NHS "we are going to have to pay for it" from a rise in general taxation. Labour ruled out raising basic and higher rates of taxation in its manifesto, so the extra money is likely to come from a rise in National Insurance or VAT.
Mr Milburn reinforced the message in a speech to NHS Trust chairmen, saying Britain had healthcare "on the cheap" for far too long. But in an apparent reversal of policy, the Tories, who previously put reform ahead of further public investment on their list of priorities, conceded taxes might have to rise to improve the NHS.