The Birth of a European Constitutional Order

The process of European integration means that national constitutional law can no longer be explained and understood in purely national terms. After an initial period when the constitutional law of the European Communities and later the European Union was derived from national traditions and principles, the resulting European constitutional law has in turn begun to reverberate back onto the various national systems. As a consequence, there is an intensifying interaction forcing the national constitutional set-ups to adapt to pan-European developments. These phenomena are summed up by the concept of the birth of a European constitutional order. The book consists of six comprehensive national reports that analyse the various ways in which European law influences and modifies the constitutional order of the Member States. It answers the question whether there is a convergence of national constitutional law in the European Union. The book takes an extensive comparative view at the various national reports. In this context, the current constitutional-political debate about the introduction of a European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the creation of a Constitutional Contract is analysed.