Comparative federalism and the Constitutional Treaty

Abstract:

This volume has drawn on the experience of some prominent federal and confederal systems in order to shed light on the transformations of the EU that may be brought about by the Constitutional Treaty signed in October 2004. This concluding article will focus on some key points that emerge from the case studies and offer some comparative reflections applied to the European Union. Four broad issues appear to have a particularly strong bearing on the evolution of the EU. The first is naturally the significance of the Constitutional Treaty itself, and the impact it is likely to have on the nature of the EU's political system. Secondly, there are questions of how the division of policy-making competences is likely to evolve and whether a dual or a cooperative form of con/federalism is taking root. Here the evolving role of subsidiarity may be important, as several of the authors in this volume have suggested. Thirdly, how will dispute resolution between the two main levels of the EU system be managed and, in particular, is the balance between the judicial and the political elements likely to be altered? Lastly, how will the changing nature of the EU affect the practice of democracy in, and popular identification with, the Union, and what role will be played by the evolution of collective identification with the individual European nations and with Europe as a whole? The following sections address each of these issues in turn. In conclusion, I offer some reflections on the ratification process.