Central and Eastern European constitutions and EU integration : in a decade from 'souverainism' to 'federalism'?

Abstract

The accession of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Candidate Countries to the European Union is a remarkable case from the perspective of constitutional law, because, in a little more than a decade, these countries have undergone three fundamental constitutional transitions. In the early 1990s, they introduced new constitutions or comprehensively revised their old constitutions, where, in addition to the principles of liberal democracy, they established strong safeguards for sovereignty and are, for this reason, characterised in this thesis as ‘souverainist’ constitutions. Since the late 1990s, they have been in the process of adapting their basic laws for transferring part of their sovereignty to the European Union, which is one of the most highly integrated organisations in the international arena. In 2002, it could be said that the Candidate Countries are taking two fundamental constitutional steps at once - they are not just joining a Union, but a Union the future of which is increasingly characterised in ‘federalist’ terms, due to the Convention’s work on reforming the Union’s architecture. The thesis examines the impact of this ‘constitutional leap’ - from regaining sovereignty to delegating part of it to a potentially ‘federalist’ Union - upon the CEE constitutions, and the tensions the issue of delegating sovereignty has caused in the region’s political arena and constitutional theory. The thesis addresses the constitutional adaptations of the CEE countries through five Chapters.