Dear Subscriber,
please find attached this monthly issue of "The European Constitution newsletter" your online-review of recent published working papers, documents and other material of interest concerning the constitutional process compiled by the PhD Programme: European Union of the University of Zaragoza. The summary also contains material which has been uploaded regarding former steps in this process and references to articles published in specialized journals, for reasons of publisher rights we are not able to provide access to the full text.
Please note that some of the links might have changed since the publication of this newsletter.

Mario Koelling
Newsletter editor

New Analysis

Emmanouilidis, J. (2006), Surmonter la crise constitutionnelle, IFRI, Note du Cerfa (Comité d'études de relations franco-allemandes), n. 30(b). (French) (PDF)

Torreblanca, J.I:; Sorroza, A. (2006), Spain and the European Union: Country Update for the EU/25 Watch, ARI 28/2006.

Lippert, B.; Goosmann, T. (2006), The State of the Union: Period of Reflection or the Sound of Silence, Real Instituto Elcano, ARI 29/2006.

Jouen, M.; Gouez, A.; Chambon, N. (2006), La question de l’identité européenne dans la construction de l’Union, Notre Europe, 24 janvier 2006. (French) (PDF)

Kietz, D.; Maurer, A. (2006), Integrationsmotor Estland, SWP-Aktuell 2006/11, Februar 2006. (German) (PDF)

Kurpas, S.; Schönlau, J. (2006), Deadlock avoided, but sense of mission lost? The Enlarged EU and its Uncertain Constitution, CEPS Policy Briefs. (PDF)

Grant, C; Gedmin, J.; Bordachev, T. (2006), Strategic Implications of the EU Crisis, ESF Working Papers, February 2006. (PDF)

Aldecoa Luzarraga, F. (2006), El proceso político en la laberíntica ratificación del Tratado Constitucional, Real Instituto Elcano, working paper 3/2006. (Spanish) (HTML)

Lippert, B.; Goosmann, T. (2006), The EU-25 in a puzzling state of mind, Results from the survey EU-25 Watch No. 2, IEP Policy Brief. (PDF)

Gallup Europe; Friends of Europe (2006), Europe: The Way Ahead in 2006, EU Leaders Poll.

Gamble, A. (2006), The European Disunion, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Volume 8, Issue 1, Page 34-49.
This article explores the state of the UK debate on Europe following the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by France and the Netherlands in 2005. It examines the conflict between the intergovernmental and supranational conceptions of the EU.

Thorlakson, L. (2006), Building Firewalls or Floodgates? Constitutional Design for the European Union, Journal of Common Market Studies, Volume 44, Issue 1, Page 139-159.
This article draws on the experience of comparative federalism to assess the efficacy of institutional safeguards against authority migration contained in the draft Constitutional Treaty. It evaluates the impact of the methods of authority allocation.

Hainsworth, P. (2006), France Says No: The 29 May 2005 Referendum on the European Constitution, Parliamentary Affairs 2006 59(1):98-117.
Via the 29 May 2005 referendum, the French electorate voted against the adoption of a constitution for the European Union (EU) and thereby sent shock waves across Europe. The grassroots rejection of the Constitution can be seen as both a vote against the policies and performance of the right-wing government and president of the day and a mobilisation against the latest development in the EU’s treaty architecture. As well as being a considerable blow against the prospects of Europe-wide ratification of the Constitutional Treaty, the decisive 55% No vote also has significant implications for domestic party politics – not least in the context of positioning for the 2007 presidential election.

Ivaldi, G. (2006), Beyond France's 2005 referendum on the European constitutional treaty: Second-order model, anti-establishment attitudes and the end of the alternative European utopia, West European Politics, Volume 29, Number 1: 47 - 69.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and characterisation of the rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty by a majority of voters in France's referendum held on 29 May 2005. Whilst pointing to the salience of political discontent with the incumbent right-wing government and some elements of the longstanding crisis in French national party politics, the analysis places the emphasis on the central role played by social issues in the referendum, the transposition at the European level of the mechanism of the evaluation by voters of traditional parties' performances and responsiveness to the country's social malaise and the unilateral termination by a majority of left-wing voters of the ‘social welfare and economic growth’ confidence pact that they had made with their national political elites on the occasion of the Maastricht referendum in 1992.

New Documents

UK Presidency and Austrian Presidency, Interim report on the national debates during the reflection period on the future of Europe, Brussels, 14 December 2005. (PDF)

Address delivered by the Federal President of the Republic of Austria Heinz Fischer to the European Parliament, 15.02.2006. (HTML)

Secretaría de Estado para la Unión Europea, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación, El futuro de la Unión Europea: Informe del Gobierno al Congreso de los Diputados, 9.2.2006, (Spanish) (HTML) (PDF)

Speech by State Secretary Winkler "How is the Austrian Presidency addressing the EU’s Constitutional Agenda" at the Wilton Park Conference, 6.02.2006. (HTML)

Keynote speech by the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin at the conference "The Sound of Europe" in Salzburg, 27.01.2006. (HTML)

Opening address by Federal President Heinz Fischer at the conference "The Sound of Europe" in Salzburg, 27.01.2006. (HTML)

Opening statement by Vice-President of the European Commission Margot Wallström at the conference "The Sound of Europe" in Salzburg. 27.01.2006. (HTML)

New Links

The "Reflection Period"

News

06.03.2006 Finland and Portugal seek only minor changes to EU constitution, EUbusiness.com

The prime ministers of Finland and Portugal on Monday called for EU leaders to reach agreement on a European constitution text that closely resembles the existing document.

06.03.2006 Berlin and Paris in talks on EU constitution revival, EUobserver.com

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Jacques Chirac are engaged in confidential talks aimed at re-submitting the core of the EU constitution to French and Dutch voters, according to a German weekly.

03.03.2006 Slovak minister attacks EU constitution over tax, EUobserver.com

Slovak finance minister Ivan Miklos has withdrawn his support for the EU constitution due to its implications for tax harmonisation across the union, but commissioner Laszlo Kovacs is preparing new legislation to challenge the "sacred cow" of tax sovereignty.

28.02.2006 Giscard appeals to Britain, France to kickstart EU constitution, EUbusiness.com

Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president, appealed Tuesday for Britain and France to relaunch the process of ratifying the EU constitution that he helped to shape.

27.02.2006 Chirac draws up wishlist of concrete EU projects, EUobserver.com

French president Chirac is drawing up a wish-list for new EU action in concrete policy areas under the union’s existing treaties, while urging less EU interference in some tax matters.

24.02.2006 'No chance' for EU constitution in Poland, Kaczynski says, EUobserver.com

Polish president Lech Kaczynski has said the EU constitution has "no chance" of being ratified in Poland, while pleading for a new, less centralist kind of charter.

17.02.2006 Europe cannot escape constitution question, says Blair, EUbusiness.com

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on 17.02 that the European Union would eventually have to face the fact that it could not continue with its current set of rules.

09.02.2006 Belgium set to ratify EU constitution, EUobserver.com

Hopes of a revival of the EU constitution were boosted on Wednesday after the regional parliament of Flanders cleared the last hurdle for Belgium's ratification of the charter, while Estonian MPs also moved closer to ratifying the text.

08.02.2006 Estonia begins ratifying EU constitution, EUbusiness.com

Estonian lawmakers on 08.02.2006 began the process of ratifying the European Union Constitution, sending the treaty to a second reading in parliament.

07.02.2006 Greece and Spain seek to revive EU constitution debate, EUbusiness.com

Greece and Spain on 07.02.2006 said they would try to revive talks over a European Union constitution.

The up-to-date information is also posted at our website.

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