Designing the European Union

About this book

This book has chapters on all the treaties establishing the European Communities in the 1950s as well as subsequent treaties reforming these community treaties (Merger Treaty, Budget Treaties, and the Single European Act) followed by chapters on the Maastricht Treaty establishing the European Union in 1993 and subsequent amendments thereof through the Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon treaties. The authors are all established and well-known scholars of European integration. The book thus traces the 'constitutional' foundation of the European Union (EU) over time and analyses these development from a comparative perspective: who were the main actors, what were their preferences and which institutions did they design to deal with common problems and challenges? Despite the rejection of the proposed Constitutional Treaty in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005 the 'constitutionalization' of the EU has continued. The book tries to answer both the 'how' and 'why' questions of this fascinating process.