Reform

Ben Smulders

Chapter 27 in Research Handbook on European Constitutional Law, 2026, pp 503-522 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: It may well be that the EU, after 70 years of integration and cooperation, is stronger and more influential than it ever was before, but the world with which it interacts as well as the Member States and citizens of which it is composed have changed dramatically too. An important question the EU therefore has to address is whether its constitutional framework needs reform so that it is resilient and thus flexible enough to defend adequately, both internally and externally, its values and strategic interests. At a time when the EU, as part of a more general quest for reform, is increasingly called on to take urgent action, in practice often compelling it to explore the formal boundaries of the mandate the Member States, through the existing Treaties, have entrusted it with, it seems well advised, before considering the burdensome path of formal treaty amendments, to use the considerable untapped potential these Treaties have. This chapter therefore analyses a series of conceptual issues related to reform, possible substantive themes such reform could address and how reform, including its constitutional and institutional dimension, could meet the EU's stated objectives of being values based and enhancing its strategic autonomy in a situation of permanent crises and geopolitical instability.

Keywords: Reform; Values; Strategic autonomy; Climate change; Treaty amendments; Changes of EU constitutional practice; Member States; Constitutional identity; EU emergency law; Agreements between EU Member States inter se; CFSP; EU funding; Role of the EU Court of Justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802207866
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