From national identity to European constitutionalism European integration: the first fifty years

Summary:

On June 18, 2004 the European Council reached a compromise on the first European constitution. Notwithstanding the inherent unpredictability of the ratification process that might last well into 2006, the European Union has begun a new chapter in its history. Almost fifty years after the conclusion of the Treaties of Rome on March 26, 1957, this stage constitutes the "second founding moment" of Europe.

American historian Joseph Ellis has coined this term to characterize the completion of the American constitution in 1787, about half a generation after the United States had gained her independence in 1776. In the US, the work of the "Founding Fathers" was followed by the success of the "Founding Brothers".1 It would probably seem more appropriate to talk about the constitution-makers as "Founding Brethren". But the issue of whether or not the work of the members of the European Convention that worked out the European Constitution between 2000 and 2002 will be as successful as the work of the Philadelphia Convention is no longer in their own hands.

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