The Process of Constitutionalisation of the EU and Related Issues

The main objective of the book is to give an analysis of relevant parts of the European Union legal order with regard to some envisaged cardinal changes in the field of acquis communautaire, which are linked directly to the constitutional development at supranational level. The significance of the issues of EU constitutionalism is enduring and cannot be reduced merely to the process of formal creation of a Constitution for Europe. Although the Constitution for Europe, after the unsuccessful referenda in France and the Netherlands, seems to be at the moment put aside ad acta, actual constitutional development already exists in the form of concrete provisions and institutes, as well as indicated by general trends de lege ferenda, and thus it can be used as a guide for dealing with the key questions of constitutionalisation of supranational entities. In addition, the conclusions of the Brussels summit (June 2007) show that this document will serve as a source for the future and its substance will be used, but with certain modifications. The publication reflects this fact.

The book, in the form of collection of essays, was prepared by leading researchers from universities of old and new member states of the EU with participation of representatives of European institutions and national authorities. The book focuses especially on the formation of a transnational constitutional sphere; the influence of the national constitutional models on the development of European Constitutional law; the actual issues of the constitutionalism in the field of human rights on EU level and its prospects, including the analysis of future mechanism of the enforcements of those rights; the issues of binding character of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and prospective accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights; actual constitutional issues related to the European Parliament and national parliaments, the relationship between the European Court of Justice and national courts of member states; the constitutional aspects of the European judicial system. Consideration is also given to other important questions where especially the cardinal changes are envisaged.