The constitutionalisation of the European Union: discourse, present, future and facts

Abstract:

A constitution is more than just marks of ink on a document. It is a social phenomenon of a particular nature and whether to regard the EU as a constitutional order makes sense for ordinary citizens depends on the existence - and actual observation - of this particular phenomenon at the EU level. This article argues that it does not yet make much sense for individuals in the Member States to view the EU as a constitutional order. Nor will it make more sense for them to view it as such solely because the "Constitutional Treaty" will have been ratified by referendum. The full completion of the constitutionalisation process presupposes the occurrence of a social change - amounting to a legal revolution - in the Member States. Contending that facts - the behaviour of legal operators in the Member States - show that such a change has not yet occurred, the article goes on to analyse the social, political and legal preconditions for the coming into being of a European constitution and examines some plausible scenarios for such a development.