A Constitution for the European Union

by Blankart, Charles Beat; Mueller, Dennis C.

• ISBN13: 9780262025669
• ISBN10: 0262025663
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

The leaders of European Union member states have declared that a European constitution should take "a clear, open, effective, democratically controlled Community approach." Their goal -- that within the Union, "European institutions should be brought closer to its citizens" -- raises many questions about implementation. What is the most effective procedure for connecting citizens' preferences to political action and policy choices at the EU level? The contributors to this CESifo volume, internationally prominent economists and other scholars, address the major issues that arise in the writing of a constitution. They do so with the underlying assumption that individuals are rational actors and the goal of the state is to advance their collective interests. The ten chapters consider such topics as how a constitution might be designed to prevent military conflict, whether the EU will evolve "by default" into a federal state, the apparent contradiction between the evolutionary development of the EU and the static structure of the constitution, the definition of citizenship and rights, the division and distribution of power, the budgetary deadlock on the provision of public goods and the redistribution of resources, coordinating policy, alternative methods for choosing an EU president, and the role of such direct democracy institutions as referenda and initiatives. The editors conclude by summing up the main arguments advanced to offer a unified sapproach to these issues.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	vii
List of Figures	ix
Contributors	xi
Series Foreword	xiii
Preface	xv
1 The European Constitution and Peace: Taking the Heat out of Politics	1	(24)
Geoffrey Brennan and Alan Hamlin
2 Competitive Federalism by Default	25	(12)
James M. Buchanan
3 The Assignment of Powers in an Open-Ended European Union	37	(24)
Pierre Salmon
4 Rights and Citizenship in the European Union	61	(24)
Dennis C. Mueller
5 Enlargements and the Principles of Designing EU Decision-Making Procedures	85	(24)
Mika Widgrén
6 The Deadlock of the EU Budget: An Economic Analysis of Ways In and Ways Out	109	(30)
Charles B. Blankart and Christian Kirchner
7 Coordinating Sectoral Policy-Making: Searching for Countervailing Mechanisms in the EU Legislative Process	139	(30)
Bernard Steunenberg
8 How to Choose the European Executive: A Counterfactual Analysis, 1979-1999	169	(34)
Simon Hix, Abdul Noury, and Gérard Roland
9 The Role of Direct Democracy in the European Union	203	(34)
Lars P. Feld and Gebhard Kirchgässner
10 Bringing the European Union Closer to Its Citizens: Conclusions from the Conference	237	(20)
Charles B. Blankart and Dennis C. Mueller
Index	257