The Draft European Constitution was arguably both an attempt to constitutionalise the Union, re-framing that project in the language of the state, and an attempt to stretch the boundaries of constitutionalism itself, re-imagining that concept to accommodate the sui generis European Union. The (partial) failure of this project is the subject of this collection of essays. The collection brings together leading EU constitutional scholars to consider, with the benefit of hindsight, the purportedly constitutional character of the proposed Constitutional Treaty, the reasons for its rejection by voters in France and the Netherlands, the ongoing implications of this episode for the European project, and the lessons it teaches us about what constitutionalism really means.

This book accounts for the content and negotiation of the EU's Constitutional Treaty of 2004 as well as the failure of ratification of the treaty in France and the Netherlands in 2005. It discusses the implications of the abandonment of the treaty for the process of European integration and our understanding of that process.

An analysis of the repeated existential crises affecting the resilience of the European Union in the twenty-first century.

European constitutionalisation has met with scepticism - this book analyses the steps necessary to move to EU's 'Second Constitution'.

Volume II considers the history of the European Union from an inside-out perspective, focusing on the internal developments that shaped the European integration process. Taking an innovative, thematic approach, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of European integration.

Behind the controversies that have marked the history of the idea of Economic Constitution emerges the highly political issue of the room for manoeuvre left to public authorities in the economic sphere. The notion thus encapsulates a fundamental tension: between democracy and rule of law, which model of legal ordering of the economy should prevail? From physiocrats to neo-liberals, from the Weimar Republic to European integration, from national constitutions to Global Governance, this collective book invites us to explore the genealogy of the controversial concept of Economic Constitution. The result of this interdisciplinary dialogue is a comprehensive reflection on the legal and political issues at stake in the current constitutionalization of the market order in Europe. Contributors are: Philippe Steiner, Guillaume Grégoire, Hugues Rabault, Peter C. Caldwell, Thomas Biebricher, Werner Bonefeld, Serge Audier, Vincent Valentin, Pieter van Cleynenbreugel, Xavier Miny, Frédéric Marty, Claire Mongouachon, Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz, Francesco Martucci, Michael Wilkinson, Hjalte Lokdam, Susanna Maria Cafaro, Peter Lindseth, Cristina Fasone, Pierre Nihoul, François Colly, Peter-Christian Müller-Graff, Tony Prosser, Damien Piron, Mahmoud Mohamed Salah, Stephen Gill, Thibault Biscahie, Sebastien Adalid, and Christian Joerges. Derrière les controverses qui jalonnent l’histoire de l’idée de Constitution économique émerge la question éminemment politique de la marge de manœuvre laissée aux autorités publiques dans la sphère économique. La notion cristallise ainsi une tension fondamentale : entre démocratie et État de droit, quel doit être modèle d’organisation et d’ordonnancement juridique de l’économie? Des physiocrates aux néolibéraux, de la République de Weimar à l’intégration européenne, des constitutions nationales à la Global Governance, cet ouvrage collectif nous invite dès lors à explorer la généalogie du concept polémique de Constitution économique. Les auteurs ouvrent alors, à travers un dialogue interdisciplinaire constant, une réflexion globale autour des enjeux juridiques et politiques du processus actuel de constitutionnalisation de l’ordre de marché en Europe.

Detailed and comprehensive analysis of how the Treaty of Lisbon emerged in 2007 this book explores the role played by the German Council Presidency and the EU's institutional actors in securing agreement among the leaders of member states on an intergovernmental conference as well as a new treaty text to replace the rejected Constitutional Treaty.

This book explains the challenge of constitutional pluralism and its importance, showing its theoretical and practical relevance, and giving a sense of why the existing scholarship on the matter is unsatisfactory. The work explores how legal practitioners and theorists have faced the challenge of a society living under two constitutions at the same time. This comes as the European Union, which legally and politically integrates Europe and seems to challenge the view that no State can simultaneously abide by both the venerable national constitutions and the ever-developing EU constitutional law, is increasingly torn between calls for closer integration to face collective challenges and mounting Euroscepticism and nationalism. This work employs a strongly pluralist perspective and a comparative methodology, and looks at constitutional crises outside the EU to ground the claim that pluralism and conflicts are essential elements of modern constitutions. It shows how the challenge of constitutional pluralism depends on a mistaken interpretation of positivist theory and how the latter, reinterpreted in a manner close to legal realism, has the resources to explain pluralism. Finally, the book addresses the issue of constitutional conflicts within the EU: it examines in detail recent cases of open disobedience to EU law by national courts and distinguishes physiological conflict from constitutional pathology. This work will be of particular interest to students and academics in Law and Political Science. It will also be compelling reading for scholars in general jurisprudence, EU law, constitutional and comparative constitutional law, and the history of European integration.

This is an authoritative, one-volume, and independent treatment of the history, functioning and nature of the European integration. Written by a selection of leading scholars. It covers the major institutions, policies, and events in the history of integration, whilst also providing a guide to the major theoretical approaches that have been used to study it over time. By bringing together such a distinguished cast covering such a wide array of themes, the Handbook is intended as a one stop shop for all those interested in the European Union and its predecessors. Written in an accessible style, the volume is intended to shape the discipline of EU studies, and to establish itself as the essential point of reference for all those interested in European integration, both in universities and more broadly. It represents a timely guide to an institution that is much discussed but often only imperfectly understood.