A Constitution for the European Union: First Comments on the 2003-Draft of the European Convention

The European Convention presented its Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe on 18 July 2003. It is the result of a pan-European debate in the Convention and the European media. The academic analysis of the future constitution also requires a European debate, and the European Constitutional Law Network is understands itself as a forum for this debate (www.ecln.net). In the present volume, twelve constitutional and European lawyers from different old and new Member States present their conclusions on different aspects of the Convention’s draft constitutional Treaty. The individual essays focus on general issues of constitutional theory, die future institutional balance, the delimitation of competences, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and specific policy issues such as foreign affairs. Thus, the results of the fourth ECLN conference in autumn 2003 in Lisbon are an important contribution to the emerging European debate on the implications of the future Constitution for Europe.