Surrendering sovereignty.

ITEM: "After 16 months of arduous negotiations, framers of the European Union's first constitution finalized their draft charter ... but failed to settle differences over how much power national governments would cede to Brussels," read an Associated Press report in the San Francisco Chronicle. Said the AP on July 10th: "The constitution is supposed to streamline decision-making in the EU when it expands from 15 to 25 members in May."

BETWEEN THE LINES: When it comes to preserving national sovereignty, the delegates of the growing European superstate debated between bad and worse. The proposed constitution makes government more centralized and remote in the hands of bureaucratic masters in Brussels. Any expectation that a 70,000-word document would streamline the existing 97,000 pages of EU regulations is feebleminded.

While the U.S. Constitution (in some 4,500 words) restricts and enumerates the specific powers of the central government, the 260-page European document does the reverse. It promulgates endless controversial rights. There's a constitutional "right for paid maternity leave and to parental leave." The death penalty is prohibited. There's the Orwellian right to "receive a free compulsory education."

There's also a "right to respect" for one's "physical and mental integrity"; a "right of access to placement services" for employment; and the "freedom to hold opinions." Children are given a right to "express their views freely" and have such views "taken into consideration." Sexual equality is mandated, although the government may allow "advantages in favor of the underrepresented sex."

More fatuous, there's a "right to good administration"--a pathetic hope that Brussels will play fair with the people of 25 nations. Of course, if there's a major problem, the court in Luxembourg will be the final arbiter. The constitution even proposes a "Non-Legislative Act" so the unelected Commission can pass binding laws.

Americans who think Europe's superstate has no meaning here better think again. Foreign law was cited in recent Supreme Court cases involving the death penalty and affirmative action. And when the high court fabricated a constitutional right to engage in homosexual sodomy, justification was found by Justice Anthony Kennedy in precedents set by the European Court of Human Rights and other foreign courts.