This book analyses the EU's Constitutional Treaty, which emerged in draft form from the European Convention in the summer of 2003 and which was finalised by an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in June 2004. It describes the main novelties of the treaty and looks at policies of important actors, Member States and Community actors (the Commission and European Parliament) and the roles played by the Convention and the Italian and Irish Presidencies during the process of deliberation and negotiation that produced the treaty. It further studies the failure of ratification in France and the Netherlands and the implications for the process of European integration of this failure. It finally touches on the question whether a constitutional equilibrium has been reached.
Since the new Lisbon Treaty negotiated in 2007 contains much of what was in the Constitutional Treaty the analyses of the book remain pertinent for this latest EU treaty.
Finn Laursen, Ph.D. (1980) in Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, holds a Canada Research Chair in EU Studies and directs the EU Centre of Excellence at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada. He has published extensively on various aspects of European integration, including EU treaty reforms.
The book is published under the auspices of the European Union Centre of Excellence (EUCE) at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Preface; List of Contributors; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Introduction: Overview of the Constitutional Treaty Process and Main Elements of the Treaty Finn Laursen; Section 1
Policy and Pillar Aspects of the Constitutional Treaty: Chapter 2: The EU Constitutional Treaty and International Trade Rafael Leal-Arcas; Chapter 3: The European Economic Constitution: An Analysis of the Constitutional Treaty Ferran Brunet; Chapter 4: The Reforms in the Justice and Home Affairs Domain: The end of the ‘third pillar’? Jörg Monar; Chapter 5: Who Speaks for Europe while we wait for the EU Foreign Minister? Per M. Norheim-Martinsen; Section 2 Case Studies of National Preferences: Chapter 6: Between Cherry-Picking and Salvaging the Titanic: Spain and the Rescuing of the essence of EU Constitution Joaquin Roy; Chapter 7: From Idealism to Pragmatism: Germany and the Constitutional Treaty Almut Möller ; Chapter 8: The French Rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty: Two-Level Games Revisited Colette Mazzucelli; Chapter 9: Trimming Sails: The Dutch and the EU Constitution after the Referendum Steven Wolinetz; Chapter 10: The United Kingdom and the Constitutional Treaty: Leading from within? Alasdair Blair; Chapter 11: Poland and the Constitutional Treaty: A short Story about a ‘square root’? Maciej Wilga; Chapter 12: Denmark and the Constitutional Treaty: A Difficult Two-Level Game Finn Laursen; Section 3 Roles of Presidencies and Community Actors: Chapter 13: Italy and the Treaty Establishing a European Constitution: The Decline of a Middle-Size Power? Federiga Bindi; Chapter 14: The Irish Presidency: Neutrality, Skills and Effective Mediation Andreas Dür and Gemma Mateo; Chapter 15: A new pragmatism – the role and impact of the European Parliament in the Constitutional Treaty negotiations Derek Beach; Chapter 16: The European Commission as a Strategic Agenda Setter: The Case of the Convention on the Future of Europe and the Ensuing Ratification Crisis Edward Moxon-Browne; Section 4 The Negotiation Process: Chapter 17: Producing ‘Ever Closer Union’? The Rhetoric of Legitimacy and Regional Participation in the EU Constitutional
Convention Janet Laible; Chapter 18: The IGC 2003-4: How Constrained by Rhetorical Action? How Intergovernmental? Finn Laursen; Section 5 Ratification Issues: Chapter 19: The Failed EU Constitution Referendums: The French Case in Perspective, 1992 and 2005 Francesca Vassallo; Chapter 20: Constitution-Making and the Search for a European Public Sphere Chien-Yi Lu; Chapter 21: Everything Shall Now Be Popular: Explaining Elite Behaviour in the Constitutional Treaty Referenda Rasmus Leander Nielsen; Section 6 Perspectives And Assessments: Chapter 22: Flexible Integration and the Constitutional Treaty: An instrument with little purpose? Laura Lund Olsen; Chapter 23: The Implications of the ‘No’ Vote in France: Making the Most of a Wasted Opportunity Marie-Luce Paris-Dobozy; Chapter 24: From Treaty Bargains to a Constitutional proposal and Back Thomas König; Chapter 25: Concluding Remarks: The Constitutional Treaty is Dead, Long live European Constitutionalism Finn Laursen; Index.
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