Final Activity Report Summary - EU CONSTITUTIONALISM (A constitutional theory for the European Union) The present research project mainly aimed to explore the key elements of a constitutional theory for the European Union at a time in which its future was somewhat uncertain. To that end, it took into account the current state of the Union and its law, as well as the possible changes due to the ill-fated Constitutional Treaty. By the time of the project completion, the following building blocks of that theory were completed: 1. an exploration of the notion of constituent power, or else pouvoir constituant, and its possible form in the context of the European Union. 2. an examination of democratic theory and its role and chances in the European Union, including the analysis of the democratic difficulties of the Union, their causes and their possible solutions. 3. an analysis and reassessment of the changing role of the European Court of Justice with respect to the interpretation and application of European Union constitutional law, and, in addition, of the changing shape of the judicial system of the Union, including the delicate relationship between national courts and European courts. 4. an analysis of the role of national constitutional courts in that process, including an assessment of the legacy of the Maastricht-Urteil of the German Constitutional Court and its impact on the judiciaries of other member states. 5. an exploration of the socioeconomic model of the European Union, focussing on the relationship between economic and social policies in the Union constitutional design. Most of these elements led to partial publications in journals, collective books or working papers. Others were anticipated to be published in the course of 2007. Finally, a monograph was planned to be published in 2007 so as to bring them together in a book.
