UACES Workshop W028

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The Constitutionalisation of the EU: Theory and Evidence

Organisers: Dr Berthold Rittberger, University of Oxford and Dr Frank Schimmelfennig, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research

Date: 24-25 June 2005

Venue: Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK

Integration theorists have for long debated the causes of transfers of sovereignty from the domestic to the supranational level. While this debate has been captured by the proponents of intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism, recent developments in the literature have turned their focus on exploring the process of ‘constitutionalisation’. Constitutionalisation here denotes a process whereby the EU’s institutional architecture and legal order increasingly reflect the fundamental norms and principles of liberal democracies. The institutionalization of human rights, such as civil liberties, non-discrimination, social and minority rights, the creation of European citizenship, or the gradual extension of the powers of the Union’s directly elected European Parliament bear witness to this development. The goal of this workshop is to explore alternative theoretical perspectives and mechanisms to explain these constitutionalization phenomena.

Contact: Dr Berthold Rittberger (T: +44 1865 278 637, Berthold.Rittberger@nuf.ox.ac.uk)