A Constitution for Europe?

Beate Kohler-Koch

No 8, MZES Working Papers from MZES

Abstract: The latest series of European summits leaves us with a puzzle: on the one hand, they hint at a development of the EU towards an "ever closer Union", on the other hand, they reveal a "piecemeal culture", provoking critique and the demand for an encompassing institutional reform proposal. Among the strategic recommendations is the suggestion to draw a constitution for the EU. While at first sight this looks like a struggle between optimists and sceptics of European integration, it is a debate that goes into two different dimensions. First, the debate is about the formation of a European state, second, it is about an adequate constitutional structure. Communication about possible options is difficult since they are based on hypothetical presumptions on the future developments of the EU and they draw on different institutional models. The present paper is an elaborated version of a presentation at the annual meeting of the Swedish graduate colloquium for Political Science at Göteborg in April 1999. It will be published in Swedish in the yearbook "Europaperspektiv. Arsbok 2000" edited by Sverker Gustavsson, Stockholm. The elaboration of the presentation was promoted by a visiting research fellowship at the Research Institute for International Affairs, Ebenhausen, in summer 1999

Keywords: constitution building; constitutional change; democratization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999-10-01
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