Preamble too flowery

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 28th May 2003

Reacting to the draft preamble published today by the Convention Praesidium, Andrew Duff said:

"The Praesidium has done a reasonable job but the draft is far too flowery for my taste and could be considered as erring on the side of the pretentious.

"Though I have the greatest respect for Thucydide, he cannot be considered as the epitome of European civilisation. Furthermore, is it correct to credit Europe as the birthplace of civilisation? Surely the Chinese, Egyptians, Persians and others would beg to disagree.

"Europe 'reunited' is a strange phrase misleading the reader to believe that it was once united.

"The final self-congratulatory sentence is absurd - we are but doing our job. Also, it is not yet self-evident that the citizens will be grateful as there is still much improvement to be made and the final settlement is not yet reached."