In October 2004, the 'Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe' was signed by European leaders. This new EU Treaty, was supposed, after its ratification by the 25 EU Member States, to consolidate and replace all the disparate European Treaties that have accumulated over the years. Some people argued that this new European treaty was a major step forward in the construction of a social Europe. However, after two member states rejected the new Treaty, the future of the new Constitution is unclear. In this article, the authors investigate the extent to which the European Constitution introduced new competencies in the field of social protection. Were European competencies in the field of social protection enhanced? Or were they restricted? In order to give answer these questions, existing EC/EU treaties are compared with the EU Constitution, specifically with regard to those competence grounds that are directly or indirectly relevant for the enactment of social security measures. In order to underpin this comparison, the authors analyse the preparatory activities for the EU Constitution that took place in the European Convention on the Future of Europe.
