EU's draft constitution sets up raucous debate

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God is out, a European foreign policy czar is in, and some bare-knuckle brawling is almost guaranteed as citizens of 25 current and future EU nations begin digesting the first official draft of a continentwide constitution.

To muted praise and angry criticism, a 105-member Convention on the Future of Europe last week released the text of proposed constitution designed for the European Union -- an effort to reform and rebuild the creaky governing structure in Brussels, which is in danger of seizing up altogether when the community adds 10 new Central and East European nations next year.

A summit of EU leaders will debate the draft text in Salonika, Greece, on June 20, with delegates hoping to have a final text in time for a second summit in Rome in October.

Convention Chairman Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the 71-year-old former president of France, has projected a calm demeanor in the face of sharp criticism that the draft either went too far in revamping the European Union or didn't go far enough.

"The criticisms expressed here and there are natural. We mustn't make a drama out of it," Mr. Giscard said Friday during consultations with members of the European Parliament in Brussels.

But the drama is under way nevertheless, for the debate has raised fundamental questions of security and justice, of the clash between central control and national rights, and of the balance of power between Europe's large and small states.

Said Jan Eliasson, Sweden's ambassador to the United States: "Going from 15 states to 25 means you are basically forced to redistribute powers inside the EU. Such discussions of power are always going to be delicate."

The first words of the draft provoked one of the first controversies, as spokesmen for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church condemned the omission of any reference to Europe's Christian heritage in the preamble.

"The text has not had the courage to recognize the historical fact of the influence of Christianity in European culture," said Cardinal Roberto Tucci, president of Radio Vatican.