IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v47y2009i3p625-650.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Lisbon Treaty: De‐Constitutionalizing the European Union?

Author

Listed:
  • CHRISTINE REH

Abstract

Calls to ratify the Lisbon Treaty by referendum have been countered with arguments about the Treaty's ‘non‐constitutional’ nature. Against this backdrop, this article asks how much ‘constitution’ is left in the new document. To answer this question, I assert that little is gained by classifying the Treaty in toto as a ‘European constitution’ or as the epitome of its failure. Instead, I develop an analytical framework that disaggregates the concept of constitution into its formal, material and symbolic functions, and systematically assess how far Lisbon would strengthen (or weaken) Europe's constitutional quality. The article suggests that, rather than transferring new competences to Brussels or making a constitutional saut qualitatif, Lisbon moderately bolsters the Treaties' formal functions; yet, in contrast to the Constitutional Treaty it adds little in material terms and is a decisive setback symbolically. Calls for ratification by referendum justified by the reform's extent are therefore ill‐founded.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Reh, 2009. "The Lisbon Treaty: De‐Constitutionalizing the European Union?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 625-650, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i:3:p:625-650
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2009.01819.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2009.01819.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-5965.2009.01819.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cindy Skach, 2005. "We, the Peoples? Constitutionalizing the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 149-170, March.
    2. G. Federico Mancini, 1998. "Europe - The Case for Statehood ... and the Case Against An Exchange," Jean Monnet Working Papers 6, Jean Monnet Chair.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shawn Donnelly, 2023. "Clocks, Caps, Compartments, and Carve‐Outs: Creating Federal Fiscal Capacity Despite Strong Veto Powers," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(4), pages 92-101.
    2. Stefan Auer & Nicole Scicluna, 2021. "The Impossibility of Constitutionalizing Emergency Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(S1), pages 20-31, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i::p:625-650 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Eloi Laurent & Jacques Le Cacheux, 2006. "Integrity and Efficiency in the EU: The Case against the European economic constitution," Working Papers hal-00972707, HAL.
    3. Eloi Laurent & Jacques Le Cacheux, 2006. "Country size and strategic aspects of structural reforms in the EU," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00976439, HAL.
    4. Eloi Laurent & Jacques Le Cacheux, 2007. "What (Economic) Constitution Does the EU Need ?," Working Papers hal-00972757, HAL.
    5. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/3531 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3531 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2281 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3681 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2281 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/3531 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3681 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/3681 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Wilhelm Lehmann, 2011. "Electoral Representation at the European level and its Institutional Design: A reappraisal of recent reform plans," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 23, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    14. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/2281 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/3681 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/2281 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3531 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Peterson, John & Shackleton, Michael, 2011. "EU institutions and Europe's politics," Discussion Papers, Schumpeter Junior Research Group Position Formation in the EU Commission SP IV 2011-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i:3:p:625-650. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.