eurealist.co.uk

BBC Newnight
Construct a constitution
Some figures for our numerate Newsnighters:

Pencils and crayons
Tools at the ready - now write a constitution
The United States Constitution consists of 4,543 words (including signatures). It might take about half an hour to read.

The Declaration of Independence is made up of 1,458 words (also with signatures) and might take about ten minutes to read.

The Magna Carta consists of 4,800 words and might take a little over half an hour.

The proposed European Constitution consists of around 67,000 words and would probably take up to eight hours to read in the unlikely event that this was done in one impressive sitting.

At Newsnight, we think 250 words is a nice round figure. 250 words, about one side of A4, might take three or four minutes to read. Lovely.

So, as our invitation for suggestions as to how to “fix” Europe has encouraged such a large number of contributions, we’re now inviting you to send us your constitutions.

Draft your own, alternative EU constitution, one that you believe could work to harmonise Europe - or deconstruct it - and on which all the people of Europe could agree. Then send it to us via the feedback form below.

As we’ve been all out of Jeremy’s sizzling sauces since the Su Doku competition, we’ll be coming up with a suitably irrelevant first prize in celebration of our viewers’ inspired attempts to tackle the European issue.

Make history. Write a constitution. But keep it brief.