Convention on the Future of Europe and the Process of Constitutional Choices

Résumé Sl En

Evropska unija se trenutno nahaja v procesu temeljnih ustavnih izbir. Zato proces, ki se je začel z ustanovitvijo Konvencije za prihodnost Evrope, pritegne pozornost mnogih opazovalcev ne le na prvi takšen uspešen poskus, tj. poskus Združenih držav Amerike, ampak tudi na nekaj spodletelih poskusov z ustavnimi izbirami. Osrednji problem avtor vidi v tem, da bi bilo federalno načelo v končnem konvencijskem aktu uveljavljeno kot temelj nove Ustavne pogodbe za Evropsko unijo. Za člane Konvencije je najpomembnejša zavest o omejenih alternativah v procesu oblikovanja končnega besedila. Proces se bo nadaljeval še dolgo po zaključku dela Konvencije. Avtor članka predlaga, naj Konvencija vključi v svoj končni dokument določbo o periodičnem premisleku o delovanju iz nje izhajajoče Ustavne pogodbe.

It seems that the European Union is currently undergoing the process of fundamental constitutional choices. This is why the process, initiated by the establishment of the Convention on the Future of Europe, turns attention of many observers not only to the first such successful experiment, the one of the United States, but also to some failures in experimentation with constitutional choices. The crucial problem we see in the way the federal principle would be applied in the final act of the Convention as a basis for the new Constitutional Treaty of the European Union. The most important for the Convention members is to be aware of the limited alternatives in the process of formulating the final text. The process would continue after the finalization of the Convention’s work for a long time. We propose that the Convention includes into its final document the provision on periodical reconsideration of the functioning of the resulting Constitutional Treaty.