This book looks at the texts of the European constitution using the story of how they were put together during the European Convention and the intergovernmental conference. It also identifies the most influential actors in relation to the constitution. It offers answers to the questions posed (15 chapters in all) by European citizens on questions of concern to them : What are the aims of the Union? What are its limits? Will joint decision-making be easier with a constitution? Are we moving towards a more social or a more liberal Europe? Will the constitution allow the Union to become an international actor? Is it « written in stone » ? What happens when a State says no? Florence Deloche-Gaudez followed all the sessions of the Convention related to the elaboration of a European constitution. Her clear and straightforward analysis of the articles of the constitution is at one and the same time a commentary on the texts and the story of how they were put together. The key articles of the constitution are reproduced and commented on in each chapter. The articles examined are those which caused the most controversy allowing an explanation of them to be anchored in the debate surrounding them