The United Kingdom and the Constitutional Treaty: Leading from within?

This chapter focuses on the UK government’s negotiating strategy in the IGC negotiations which led to the Constitutional Treaty. The chapter begins with an initial examination of UK negotiating strategies towards IGC negotiations before proceeding to analyse the UK position in the lead up to the decision to convene the Convention on the Future of Europe. The next section reviews the UK position in the opening months of the Convention when the government was regarded as playing a full part in the discussions. Thereafter the analysis proceeds to review the implications that the publication of the first ‘skeleton’ draft of the Constitutional treaty had on the UK negotiating tactics. This section of the chapter is followed by an assessment of the impact of the UK ‘red lines’ after the publication of the draft treaty articles in February 2003. Having studied the UK position in the Convention the chapter then offers analysis of the government’s engagement in the IGC negotiations before finally concluding with a review of the balance sheet of UK negotiating tactics.