The Tangled Complexity of the EU Constitutional Process: The Frustrating Knot of Europe [Paperback]

Offering a fresh view on the EU constitutionalisation process, the new edition of The Tangled Complexity of The EU Constitutional Process presents three main points: the idea of constitutional complexity, the tension between constitutional evolutionism and constitutional constructivism in the process of European integration.

Offering a fresh view on the EU constitutionalisation process, the new edition of The Tangled Complexity of the EU Constitutional Process presents three main points: the idea of constitutional complexity, the tension between constitutional evolutionism and constitutional constructivism in the process of European integration, and the functional nature of conflicts in the evolution of the EU. Because of its prodigiousness, European law produces consternation among constitutionalists accustomed to traditional patterns of power.

This book argues that while constitutional conflicts have frequently been depicted as elements of disturbance along the path towards legal coherence, they are physiological and might even be functional to the development of the European legal order, which should not be understood in a deterministic manner.

The new edition will be of particular interest to academics and students in the disciplines of law, international relations, and political science.

Preface to the second edition: Why a new edition?

Preface and acknowledgements to the first edition

1 Only a drop in the ocean? An attempt to classify the debate about the notion and the nature of the European Constitution

1.1 Introductory remarks

1.2 When concepts matter: what do we mean by constitutionalisation, constitution and constitutionalism at EU level?

1.3 Dealing lS±