All written constitutions are products of their time. They reflect a specific political culture and the strength of different political interests. The EU constitution is a product of 20th century welfare-state socialism. Although, the official goal was to design a simpler, more efficient, more democratic Europe that is "closer to its citizens", the overall purpose of this constitution is to create a powerful European presence on the global economic and political stage. But, its adoption is more likely to make internal change even more difficult; it will deepen the division between the Europeans and accelerate the economic slowdown.