It is not certain whether a draft constitution will be the final result, but what we can be sure of is that the Convention must direct all its efforts at what we – borrowing the expression of that great European, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant – might call the Convention's categorical imperative, that every one of its proposals must also be capable of becoming a basic component of a European constitution. It is towards that goal that it must work.

It is not certain whether a draft constitution will be the final result, but what we can be sure of is that the Convention must direct all its efforts at what we – borrowing the expression of that great European, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant – might call the Convention's categorical imperative, that every one of its proposals must also be capable of becoming a basic component of a European constitution. It is towards that goal that it must work.

This is one of the reasons why in San Francisco in 1945 the principle of self-determination represented a learning from the lessons of history and less enthusiasm for the categorical imperative that some had asserted: that every time one is identify as a nation or a people-the terms in the UN have been used interchangeably and somewhat confusedly-one did not have to break up a state to assert one's right of self-determination.

These usually involve the abolition of price support or a reduction to world market levels; income compensation (partial or full through direct payments; abolition of quotas and other supply management measures; direct income support payments and payments for environmental services on a national basis, with or without Community co-financing. This option certainly has the advantage that it would lead to a considerable simplification and would reduce agricultural expenditure substantially once compensation payments were phased out. Although such a radical reform may be appealing from an economist's point of view, it would imply a number ...[+++] of social and environmental risks which, at least in some regions, could lead to quite negative effects. In addition, at least in the first five to ten years, before compensatory payments are phased out to a large extent, it would imply huge sums of additional public expenditure. Reducing for example milk and sugar prices to bring them close to world market levels would imply drastic price cuts and necessitate some 10000 to 15000 mio ECU for direct payments if full compensation were to be achieved. If direct payments were to be made directly from Member State budgets, the question of economic and social cohesion would arise, and transfer payments between Member States would become necessary to bridge the gap between the richer and the poorer countries and to get the system work. 2.3. Developing the 1992 approach Towards higher competitiveness If the agricultural and agro-food sectors of the Community are to participate fully in the expected favourable world market developments and the expansion of world trade, improved competitiveness will remain a key challenge for the future. Competitiveness has many facets : quality and speciality of the product, value added through processing, services linked to the product, price, etc ... ...

It is, in a pragmatic way, an operational expression of Kant's categorical imperative.

That is the extended family relationship and the notion that there are categorical imperatives, if we can call them that, of a moral nature but which are observed even more fully than in a legal relationship, between parents and their children, in the relationship of children to support parents, in the relationship of siblings within a family relationship.