European Union Constitution (i)

• Reference:GB 254 MS 420/26
• Dates of Creation:2002-2009
• Name of Creator:
  Sir William Nicoll
• Physical Description:
  1 folder

• Scope and Content

  European Union Constitution 2003-2004 Documents (i). Includes: photocopy of paper by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office with annotations by Nicoll, 'White Paper on the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe', September 2004 Article by Dr Edward Best in EIPASCOPE, 'In Search of the Lost Constitution: the EU Between Direct Democracy and the Permissive Consensus', 2005 EU Constitution newsletter by Federal Trust Publications, July 2005 Letter to Nicoll from A.A. Dashwood, September 2005 Notes by Alan Dashwood, 'After the Loss of the EU Constitutional Treaty, What Next?', 2005 European Policy brief by Federal Trust Publications, 'What do French Voters Want from the European Constitution?', 2005 Notes by Nicoll, 'the Italian Job', November 2003 Article from The Economist, 'A Constitution for Europe' by Jack Straw, October 2002 Printed article from the European Policy Centre, 'The Convention on the Future of Europe', 2002 Draft 'Constitutional Treaty of the European Union and Related Documents', 2002 Article from E!sharp magazine, 'A Little Less Talk, a Little More Action' 2004 Article from E!sharp magazine, 'Getting it Right in the EU Referenda', 2005 2 emails to Nicoll from Bryan Richardson, reguarding Sevenoaks, 2004 Printout of EU Constitution newsletter with annotations by Nicoll, 2005 List of EU members votes, 2009 Printed article from Europa.eu.int, 'The Union's Decision-Making Procedures', 2004 5 European Policy briefs by Federal Trust Publications, November 2004-July 2005 Federal trust policy commentary, 'Asylum, Immigration and Qualified Majority Voting,' November 2004 Typed and handwritten notes for a speech by Nicoll on the EU Treaty Notebook of handwritten notes by Nicoll, 'Constitution' written on front, includes a speech of unknown authorship

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Born in Dundee, Sir William Nicoll was an only child. Growing up in a tenement, his father was a joiner. He attended Morgan Academy, then won a scholarship to University College, Dundee, which was then part of the University of St Andrews.
  Nicoll passed the civil service exams and moved to London in 1949 to join the Board of Trade. Married Helen Morison in 1954, at the same time he became Editor of The Reel, a post he held in 1954 and 1955. The next year he was posted to Calcutta as trade commissioner, cutting short his editorship. Within ten years he had risen to become private secretary to Douglas Jay, the Labour heavyweight whom Harold Wilson had appointed president of the Board of Trade.
  From there Nicoll was seconded to the Foreign Office and served 20 years as one of the UK's senior men in Brussels. He became familiar with the French language and had a narrow escape from an IRA letter bomb while there.
  Nicoll rose to become Director General of the Council of the European Communities, and was knighted in 1992. In retirement, he lectured, edited the European Business Journal, wrote books on the European Union and advised candidate countries hoping to join it.
  Sir William was a lifelong teetotaller, and keen Scottish country dancer.

• Access Information

  Open for consultation subject to preservation requirements. Access must also conform to the restrictions of the Data Protection Act (2018), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018) and any other relevant legislation or restrictions. Clinical information is closed for 100 years.

• Note

  Born in Dundee, Sir William Nicoll was an only child. Growing up in a tenement, his father was a joiner. He attended Morgan Academy, then won a scholarship to University College, Dundee, which was then part of the University of St Andrews.
  Nicoll passed the civil service exams and moved to London in 1949 to join the Board of Trade. Married Helen Morison in 1954, at the same time he became Editor of The Reel, a post he held in 1954 and 1955. The next year he was posted to Calcutta as trade commissioner, cutting short his editorship. Within ten years he had risen to become private secretary to Douglas Jay, the Labour heavyweight whom Harold Wilson had appointed president of the Board of Trade.
  From there Nicoll was seconded to the Foreign Office and served 20 years as one of the UK's senior men in Brussels. He became familiar with the French language and had a narrow escape from an IRA letter bomb while there.
  Nicoll rose to become Director General of the Council of the European Communities, and was knighted in 1992. In retirement, he lectured, edited the European Business Journal, wrote books on the European Union and advised candidate countries hoping to join it.
  Sir William was a lifelong teetotaller, and keen Scottish country dancer.

• Archivist's Note

  Description compiled by Joy Naomi Ramsay, Archives Volunteer, 16/04/2018

• Conditions Governing Use

  Reproduction is available subject to preservation requirements. Charges may be made for this service, and copyright and other restrictions may apply; please check with the Duty Archivist.

• Accruals

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• Additional Information

  Published