Former French president Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing will unveil the first outline of an EU constitution tomorrow, taking the debate on the future of the European Union to a new phase.
The document comes after months of discussion by Mr Giscard's so-called Convention on the Future of Europe, which is charged with plotting a political course for the Union as it gears up for major enlargement to the mostly former communist east.
A constitution would clarify what the bloc aims to be: a debate that divides countries into two broad camps - those like Germany that want a more federal union, and states like France and Britain that want nation states to retain their primacy.
The text will be a skeleton, rather than a fleshed-out draft saying how power would be allocated in the European Union of the future, Convention members have said.
This "Congress of the Peoples of Europe" would not pass laws, but would oversee strategic direction, Mr Giscard said.
The text is also likely to raise the option of creating a president of the European Council of EU leaders or strengthening the existing role of president of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
The idea of having a Council president is backed by Britain, France and Spain, but opposed by many smaller states, which fear a loss of influence to the bigger EU members.
Mr Giscard has also pondered the possibility of an "exit clause", allowing countries to leave the European Union if they wish, a choice they do not currently have.
It suggested creating a new legal entity to replace the current EU treaties, with the possibility that the new body could come into effect even if one or two of the old member states had not ratified it, according to Danish Euro-sceptic European Parliament member Mr Jens-Peter Bonde.
Countries that did not ratify would thus effectively exclude themselves from the new union.
MrBonde said Mr Giscard encountered resistance from presidium members from Denmark and Ireland which both hold referenda to ratify EU treaties that affect their constitution.