Reconstructing Europe: two alternative proposals for a European Constitution

Summary:

From the Introduction. The rejection of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe (hereinafter referred to as the “Constitutional Treaty”) in the referenda in France and the Netherlands has been followed by a „constitutional coma“. The German EU Presidency, which coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, is expected to issue a wake-up call. In this regard, the recently adopted Berlin Declaration has made a clear commitment to "put the EU on a renewed common foundation" before the European elections in 2009. This paper is a contribution to the ongoing constitutional debate of 31 Master Fellows of 17 different nationalities currently completing a Master Programme in European Studies at the Centre for European Integration Studies (ZEI) in Bonn.

As part of a course on the history of European integration held by Professor Dr. Ludger Kühnhardt, Director at ZEI, Master Fellows decided to take on the academic endeavour in proposing an alternative constitution for Europe. This resulted in a “split” of the Master Fellows into two basic groups dealing with two different approaches to a brave new constitutional project – one relying on the current draft of the Constitutional Treaty, the other one going beyond it.