The Constitution makes some steps towards making the European Union and its institutions more democratic. For a start, the European Parliament would get the right to co-legislate in all areas of legislation that are subject to qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers.

Also, the European assembly would have a say in the election of the Commission President - the draft commits EU leaders to "take into account" the results of the European elections when choosing a new leader for the EU executive. However, this is only a minor improvement and will only go some way to giving the Commission President the democratic legitimacy needed.

Similarly, a new article on participatory democracy has been drawn up which suggests that if one million citizens from a "significant" number of states sign a petition, then they can ask the Commission to submit a legislative proposal on its subject matter.

It would also allow for more involvement by national parliament whereby 1/3 of national parliaments could demand a review of a Commission proposal if it breaches the subsidiarity principle (which states that the Union only takes action when it is more effective than action taken at the national or local level). However, they cannot veto it - but they may ask the European Court of Justice to rule on whether legislation has breached the subsidiarity principle.
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After the document was eventually signed by all involved, the text will have to go through the ratification procedure in each of the 25 member states [ see current situation on ratification here ].

The Constitution states that if 4/5 of member states have ratified the text after two years, and some states still have not, then EU leaders will discuss the matter.

[Taken from http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=15260 and updated by ParticipatoryDemocracy staff]