1st Edition

Policy-Making Processes and the European Constitution A Comparative Study of Member States and Accession Countries

Edited By Thomas König, Simon Hug Copyright 2006
    336 Pages 31 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    336 Pages 31 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This new volume presents a wealth of fresh data documenting and analyzing the different positions taken by governments in the development of the European Constitution.

    It examines how such decisions have substantial effects on the sovereignty of nation states and on the lives of citizens, independent of the ratification of a constitution. Few efforts have been made to document constitution building in a systematic and comparative manner, including the different steps and stages of this process. This book examines European Constitution-building by tracing the two-level policy formation process from the draft proposal of the European Convention until the Intergovernmental Conference, which finally adopted the document on the Constitution in June 2004. Following a tight comparative framework, it sheds light on reactions to the proposed constitution in the domestic arena of all the actors involved. It includes a chapter on each of the original ten member states and the fifteen accession states, plus key chapters on the European Commission and European Parliament.

    This book will be of strong interest to scholars and researchers of European Union politics, comparative politics, and policy-making.

    List of tables

    List of figures

    About the authors

    List of abbreviations

    INTRODUCTION

    Policy--making Processes and the European Constitution:

    A Comparative Study of Member States and Accession Countries

    Thomas König and Simon Hug

    1 The European Convention and the Rome and Brussels IGCs:
    A Veto Players Analysis

    George Tsebelis

    2 The European Convention: Consensus without Unity?

    Thomas König, Andreas Warntjen, Simone Burkhart

    3 The Coordination of Austria’s National Position regarding the Constitution

    Christine Arnold and Annemieke Burmeister

    4 Belgium, the Convention and the IGC: Consensus and Coalition Politics

    Christophe Crombez and Jan Lebbe

    5 Cyprus: Under the Shadow of the Inter--Communal Conflict

    Spyros Blavoukos and George Pagoulatos

    6 The Czech Republic: Sitting on the Fence

    Tobias Schulz and Martina Chabreckova

    7 Denmark: The Nordic Model as an Effort to Bridge Elite Euro--Optimism
    and Popular Euro--Skepticism

    Hartmut Lenz and Han Dorussen

    8 Estonia: A Single Voice in Europe’s Intergovernmental Bargaining

    Daniel Finke

    9 Finland: Centralized Consensus on EU Constitution Building

    Daniel Finke and Thomas König

    10 France: The President takes all

    Tobias Schulz

    11 Germany: The Promoter of European Integration?

    Stephanie Daimer and Thomas König

    12 Greece: Overcoming Negative Stereotyping

    George Pagoulatos and Spyros Blavoukos

    13 Hungary: United in Support, Divided by Borders

    Anna Gwiazda and Kenneth Benoit

    14 Ireland: Pragmatism and the EU Constitution

    Anna Gwiazda

    15 Italy: The Presidency at Work?

    Tobias Schulz

    16 Latvia and the EU Constitution: A Pragmatic "Yes"

    Stephanie Daimer

    17 Lithuania: A Priority for Europe

    Stephanie Daimer

    18 Luxembourg, the Convention and the IGC: Consensus and Concern
    for Its Economy

    Christophe Crombez and Jan Lebbe

    19 Malta: the Importance of Being Unimportant

    Spyros Blavoukos

    20 Domestic Preference Formation in the Netherlands on the European
    Constitution

    Christine Arnold, Madeleine O. Hosli, Paul Pennings

    21 Poland: the Struggle for Nice

    Anna Gwiazda

    22 Portugal: in Quest for a New Role

    Spyros Blavoukos and George Pagoulatos

    23 Slovakia: Avoiding Conflict to Secure Stability

    Tobias Schulz and Martina Chabreckova

    24 Position Taking and Coordination Processes of the Government of the
    Republic of Slovenia

    Giacomo Benedetto

    25 Preference Formation and European Constitution--Building: The Spanish
    Perspective

    Raj S. Chari and Alfonso Egea--de Haro

    26 The "Third Way" of Sweden Towards the European Constitution:
    Promoting Social Policies and Safeguarding Neutrality

    Hartmut Lenz and Han Dorussen

    27 Position Taking and Coordination Processes of the Government of the
    United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

    Giacomo Benedetto

    28 The Commission, the Convention and the IGC: Consensus and Concern
    for Its Role

    Christophe Crombez and Jan Lebbe

    29 Position Taking and Coordination Processes of the European Parliament

    Giacomo Benedetto

    30 Conclusion

    Simon Hug and Thomas König

    ANNEX: The Measure of Adapted Coherence for the Evaluation of Experts

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Official Documents, Databases, Press Sources

    INDEX

    Biography

    Thomas König is Professor of Political Science at the German University for Administrative Sciences Speyer. Simon Hug is Professor of Political Science at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.