Spain aims to become the first country to ratify the European Constitution as a result of the referendum to be held on February 20th. Until now, there has been hardly any public discussion on the matter and the ‘YES» camp has rolled out a forceful media campaign which has dominated the debate. However, an important sector of society has begun to mobilise against the Constitution. In spite of what many would have us believe, those who are in the “NO” camp include different social groups, movements and organizations who are against the kind of Europe envisaged by this Constitution. Ecologistas en Acción, the largest environmental group in Spain, is part of this opposition.

Several European environmental organisations, as well as other sectors of society, have been critical of the European Constitution but have given their support, alleging that a “NO” would delay the European construction process: they argue that the text will not worsen the existing situation and consider that the mention of sustainable development in the initial preamble of the treaty has great significance. As far as Ecologistas en Acción are concerned, this apparent environmental concern is purely rhetorical rather than a real attempt to achieve sustainability; it merely recognizes that it is no longer possible to deny the consequences of environmental degradation or of the population's increasing awareness of environmental matters.

If we analyse one of the main environmental references in the Constitution (Article 1-3 which states that: ‘The Union will work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy…') we'll see that an attempt is made to marry the notion of economic growth and environmental protection; the very thought that this might be possible ignores the fact that it is the market economy which is ultimately responsible for the environmental crisis.

Indeed, if we look at the extent to which economic policies are developed in the Constitution and compare this to social and environmental policies, we can clearly see that the Union's ‘real» importance will be competitiveness, which will be the driver and guide of European policies; environmental and social policies will always come second.

This bringing together of objectives in the Constitution is not the result of sheer ingenuity; it is merely an attempt to jump on the sustainability bandwagon. The truth is quite the reverse. The EU is quite right in determining our present state of unsustainability but it continues to pursue the very policies which created the problem in the first place. The European Constitution is strengthening a European construction process which aims to relocate production and establish long-distance distribution and trade systems. This will increase energy consumption and the emission of pollutants and will necessitate a large-scale transport system. At present, transport is growing faster than GDP in the European Union. The EU is the second largest consumer of natural resources and produces the second highest levels of CO2 emissions in the world.

Many aspects included in the third part of the Constitution – trade and investment policies, energy and transport policies, agricultural and town and country planning models, the thrust towards greater liberalization and deregulation of the market, economic and monetary policies – all have serious consequences for the environment both at a local and a global level. For Ecologistas en Acción, a project which calls for a global economy can never be deemed sustainable.