One of Ours

Another headache for Tony Blair: The latest draft of the European Constitution is a lot tougher than he expected. Some of Britain's "red lines" - issues of national importance without which he will not be able to agree to the treaty - look fragile, if not crossed already.

The revised draft, released by the Irish government just as Blair headed to Paris to attempt to squeeze more concessions from Jacques Chirac, transfers more power to the European Commission and away from member states.

Among the amendments are moves to greatly strengthen the powers of the proposed EU "foreign minister" - an unelected commissioner - enabling him or her to give orders to the foreign ministers of member countries, including (Britain's foreign secretary) Jack Straw, and to control the EU corps of diplomats.

The ability of Britain and other member states to veto the appointment of the president and vice-president of the European Central Bank also comes under renewed threat, as does the independence of the bank itself.

The powers of the European Parliament in rejecting the Commission's budget - itself a contentious issue - would be greatly increased and there are even possible threats to Britain's right to levy taxes independently.

More decisions across a range of areas should, according to the proposed amendments, be taken by qualified majority voting, effectively removing the ability of Britain and other countries to wield a veto...

...The Prime Minister has warned that he can only sell the constitution to British voters if red lines protecting areas of taxation, foreign policy, defence, criminal law and social policy are secure. If he is unable to retain Britain's veto in these areas, he will not be able to sign the treaty, never mind try to sell it to an already sceptical British public...