The so-called Laeken declaration of December 2001, which launched the process of writing a new constitution to replace the existing treaties, talked of popular concerns about too many powers being exercised at European rather than national level, about the lack of democratic scrutiny, and about European institutions and practices being rigid and hard to understand.
Writing on his blog, Peter Fahy said he had no wish to replace the outgoing commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, who quit over the phone-hacking scandal.