The Convention on the Future of Europe and the Process of Constitutional Choice

Abstract:     
It seems that the European Union is currently undergoing the process of fundamental constitutional choice. This is why the process, initiated by the establishment of the Convention on the Future of Europe, turns attention of many observers not only to the first such successful experiment, the one of the United States, but also to some failures in experimentation with constitutional choices. The crucial problem lies in the way the federal principle would be applied in the final act of the Convention as a basis for the new Constitutional Treaty of the European Union. Most important for the Convention members is to be aware of the limited alternatives in the process of formulating the final text. The process will continue after the finalisation of the Convention's work for a long time. We propose that the Convention include into its final document the provision for periodic reconsideration of the functioning of the resulting Constitutional Treaty.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 8

Keywords: Convention, federalism, consitutional choice, United States

working papers series