The Federal Constitution

Overview
The Federal Constitution of the Federal Republic of Europe was approved via referendum by all member states. The constitution itself is formed by three parts:


 * The Federal Constitution itself
 * The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 * The European Convention on Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10th December 1948, and the European Convention of Human Rights of 04th November 1950 form an indivisible part of the constitution. The Federal Constitution itself then outlines additional Citizen's Rights, organisation of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the government, the Division of Powers between the Federation and Member States, the Accession and Withdrawal processes, and the process of amending the Constitution.

Separation of Powers
A unique feature of the constitution is the form of separation of powers between the Federation and it's Member States.

In chapter 5, the constitution defines hypothetical government powers as either "Centralised" or "Decentralised". For "Centralised" powers, federal legislation supersedes member states' legislation, while for "Decentralised" powers, member states' legislation supersedes federal legislation. Additionally, the constitution specifies that on matters not defined as either "Centralised" or "Decentralised", the member states' legislation also supersedes federal legislation.

Defining what exactly falls under both "Centralised" and "Decentralised" powers is determined by the "Constitutional Law on the Division of Powers", which the constitution requires the parliament to pass as it's first act. It then specifies the procedure for amending this law after it's adoption. Any amendment which would add to the list of Centralised powers, or remove from the list of Decentralised powers requires the consent of two-thirds of the delegates in the Council, while any amendment which would add to the list of Decentralised powers, or remove form the list of Centralised powers requires the consent of two thirds of the representatives in the Assembly. In this system, each chamber of the parliament effectively acts as a "guard" for the power it represents - the member states, or the Federation.

Full Text
An unabridged transcript of the Federal Constitution is available here: Full Text of the Federal Constitution