Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, commonly called the European Constitution or the Constitutional Treaty, was an international treaty intended to create a single consolidated constitution for the European Union. It would have replaced the existing Union treaties with one text, given legal force to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and extended qualified majority voting into policy areas previously decided by unanimity. Representatives of the then 25 member states signed it on 29 October 2004, and 18 states went on to ratify it, including by referendums in Spain and Luxembourg. French and Dutch voters rejected it in May and June 2005, which ended the ratification process. The Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007 and in force from 1 December 2009, then carried over many of its changes by amending the existing treaties instead.