Is the European Constitution Project a Right Fundament for the Enlarged EU?
Language: English
The 6th of the CASE European Seminars series a joint venture of CASE and the Leopold Kronenberg Foundation will be an opportunity to discus the results of the Intergovernmental Conference currently debating the European Constitution project.
This topic grew to be highly controversial in Poland, even though only a part of the huge document is being discussed, and that is the number of votes each country will have in the Council of Ministers. During our seminar also other changes proposed in the Constitution will be highlighted. Voting system itself will be put in a broader context of the future of the European project. From that point of view it is less the number of votes granted to any particular country that matters, than the question, if and how much will the threshold of the qualified majority be lowered. Accepting the Convention proposal - according to which a decision is taken if majority of Member States representing at least 60% of the EU population endorse it - would effectively reduce the qualified majority as compared to the existing system (decided in Nice). Such a solution would certainly make decision-process in the enlarged EU easier and this is a serious argument for abandoning Nice solutions. However on the other hand, adopting the system proposed by the Convention may lead to a domination of the EU by the largest Member States, in particular France and Germany. Such a situation could dissatisfy other countries, and, in a longer run jeopardise the consistency of the EU. Then again, given the statements by French and German politicians, announcing enhanced co-operation of some EU countries, should the Convention project be rejected, one can ask, whether the consistency of the Union will not be threatened independently from the results of the IGC?
PROGRAM
| 10.00-10.15 | Introduction: What Difference Does the European Constitution Make? Agnieszka Kraińska, Uniwersytet Gdański, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis | |
| 10.15-11.30 | Voting System: Efficient Decision-Making vs Consistency of the EU Dr Heather Grabbe, Center for European Reform Londyn Prof. Jacek Rostowski, CASE; Prof. Marek Dąbrowski, CASE Krzysztof Szczygielski, CASE (moderator) | |
11.30-13.00 |
Discussion | |
