Is the European Constitution a Rebuilding Effort?
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Beyond the heterogeneity of a text which juxtaposes federalist, intergovernmental, codifying and constitutional ideas, the arrangements of the constitutional treaty must be examined with regard to three criteria: the synergy between international and supranational logic (decision making in particular), the voting process in intergovernmental fora, and the hierarchy of judicial norms. Following these criteria, the treaty raises a number of ambiguities and creates a third path between supranational integration and the cooperation of States. It improves the functioning of an enlarged Union and marks the passage from an economic Union to a political Union. Jean-Louis Quermonne is Emeritus Professor in Political Science. He has teached at the Grenoble and Paris Instituts d'études politiques and at the Collège d'Europe in Bruges. From 1998 to 2000 he directed the think tank of the Commisariat général du plan on European Union Institutions Reform.