| Description : The draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was
drawn up by a European Convention in 2003 and signed by the heads of state and government of the EU member states in Rome
on the 29th of October 2004. Compared to the previously valid Treaty of Nice, the EU was to receive additional
competences; furthermore, its institutional structure was to be changed in order to make it more democratic and capable of
acting. However, since not all member states ratified the treaty after failed referendums in France and the Netherlands, it
did not attain legal force. Instead, in December 2007, European leaders concluded the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered
into force on the 1st of December 2009. Europa and Zeus in the shape of a bull are the motif of the coin,
together with the Constitution for Europe depicted as a book. Europa holds a quill above the Constitution, symbolic of its
signing. The ring shows the issue occasion "COSTITUZIONE EUROPEA" (European Constitution) in the lower part, while the
twelve stars of Europe fill its upper half. The ligature "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic) is shown at the
bottom of the pill, the year "2005" at the top right. The "R" the mint mark of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e
Zecca dello Stato in Rome is at the top left. The initials "M.C.C." of the medallist Maria Carmela Colaneri are
at the bottom left. |
