The constitution for Europe and an enlarging Union: unity in diversity?

Abstract:

The essays that comprise this volume were presented during a three-day conference of young
researchers held in Warsaw in July 2004, ‘Enlargement and the Future of the European Union: Parallel Paths or Crossroads?’. The contributions offer an exploration of current themes arising in law and political science in the context of constitutionalisation and differentiation in an enlarging Union as well as the conditionality applied to countries acceding to the Union.

The work is organised over twelve chapters. The first examines the formalisation of a European Constitution, arguing that the European Union already has a constitution and that it would be better to formalise it for pragmatic reasons of substance, form and process. Chapter two examines the extent to which a formal constitution as presented in the Constitutional Treaty would improve democratic legitimacy and bring European institutions closer to their citizens. Chapter three looks at institutional reform in the Union as envisaged in the Treaty, concluding that the role of the European Parliament and the Council will be strengthened whilst the Commission will depend on the political charisma and vision of its president. The future for national parliaments in an enlarged Europe and the Constitutional Treaty are examined in chapter four, which considers the position of the new Member States’ parliaments and those of the EU-15, dealing with the differences of parliamentary practice in the ‘old’ Member States and the guidelines they might offer to the new Member States. Arguments surrounding differentiation, divergence, uniformity and compliance are explored in chapter five, while the extent of differentiation experienced in the EU is loudly stated in the case of EMU, which is the theme of chapter six.

The status of citizens in the divided Cyprus are part of an exercise in testing the concept of European citizenship as featured in chapter seven. An important hurdle to be overcome in the process of increased European integration will be the economic disparities in the agricultural communities across Europe, and this is explored in chapter eight. The heightened anxieties over international terrorism in recent years is the substance of chapter nine, which examines the development of counter-terrorist programmes of the EU and the double standard applied in the powers available to the Commission for treatment of the Ten compared to the Fifteen. Chapter ten explores current and future pre-accession conditionality as it applies to current and future candidates for accession. Minority protection and its future under the proposed Constitution are examined in chapter eleven, which concludes that little will change and that the Charter of Fundamental Rights will continue to be the keystone for developing a more robust legal framework within the EU. The final chapter addresses the influence that EU applicancy has had on Turkey’s democratisation reforms and the overflow of influence in the foreign policy behaviours of Turkey.

The work will interest scholars, students, researchers and policy makers engaged in European Union studies, European integration and enlargement and International Relations.

Kirstyn Inglis is Senior Researcher at the European Institute, University of Ghent. Andrea Ott is Lecturer in European Law at the University of Maastricht.

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