The article analyses selected titles from the Constitutional Treaty on the European Union (EU) which have been prepared by the Convention on the Future of the EU: Definition and objectives of the Union, Union institutions, Union competences and actions, Implementation of Union action and Union finances. Predominantly those clauses are discussed which seemingly will undergo only minor changes at the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) of Member States, which at the end of the day will adopt the final text of the Constitutional Treaty. The article could also not avoid some main controversies, especially between the large and small states, where consensus will be hard to reach. This is primarily the institutional reform of the Union, which called for the next IGC in the first place. The issue is the right balance between the existing 'Holy Trinity' (Commission, Council, Parliament) and the new institutions (European Council and its President). It is an political science analyses which points out main dilemmas and is written in a way which will give an overview to the general professional public, that ought to be interested in the future of the EU as it will determine our lives more than wemay now imagine.
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