The Fabulous Destiny of the EC Treaty: From Treaty to Constitution to Treaty Again?
Irish Journal of European Law, Vol. 15, No. 49, 2008
30 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2008
Date Written: July 1, 2008
Abstract
This article will argue that regardless of the tragic fate of the 2004 Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and the European Council's proclaimed abandonment of the "constitutional concept" in June 2007, the EU has already a constitution even though it may not possess a "transparent, intelligible, or ultimately meaningful one". The European Court of Justice's endorsement of this "constitutional perspective" with respect to the EC Treaty was as influential as it was controversial. It is therefore critical to analyse the Court's case law before seeking to understand why the European use of constitutional terminology has proved contentious. This article will finally suggest that the EC and EU Treaties can be best described and understood as constituting a "treaty-constitution" and that this hybrid nature is no transitional aberration.
Keywords: European Union, Constitution, EC Treaty, Lisbon Treaty
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