Policy-Making Processes And The European Constitution

Description:
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.

Table of Contents:
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 Konig 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 Konig, 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 Konig 10 France: The President takes all Tobias Schulz 11 Germany: The Promoter of European Integration? Stephanie Daimer and Thomas Konig 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 Konig ANNEX: The Measure of Adapted Coherence for the Evaluation of Experts BIBLIOGRAPHY Official Documents, Databases, Press Sources INDEX

Author Biography:
German University of Administrative Sciences, Germany University of Zurich, Switzerland