Nice results: the Millennium IGC in the EU’s evolution

Abstract:

Analysing the Treaty of Nice from a dynamic perspective we observe that the major decisions on institutions and procedures are part of an historical evolution of the EU's 'legal constitution'; in quantitative terms the Nice results extended fundamental trends of the European process over the last 50 years. By increasing the complexity of the procedures and the modes of governance, the masters of the Treaty have again taken decisions according to a pattern which the author characterizes as a three-step model of 'ratchet fusion'.