The EU and the right to self-government

Abstract

In this paper, the constitution making process in Europe is assessed with emphasis on incorporating the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Is the Charter a means to reduce the democratic deficit even if it does not fully comply with the notion of people-made law? The EU establishes post-national rights, including fundamental rights of a constitutional type. The focus is on the contribution of fundamental rights to constitutionalism and to cosmopolitan democracy. Rights are necessary for democracy to prevail, but rights have to be right. In Europe, there is a constitution in the making, as the citizens have been assigned rights, but as they have not given themselves the rights explicitly, the validity of the rights may be of a dubious quality.