The Rafael del Pino Foundation and the University Institute of European Studies of the CEU-San Pablo University signed a research agreement on 22 December 2006 with the aim of deepening the study, analysis and understanding of the Magna Carta of the European Union, as well as the future of the European Constitutional Treaty and the existing alternative scenarios. The European University Institute of Florence has participated in the research.
The research, entitled The future of the European Constitutional Treaty and exit scenarios for the current situation, is based on the need to analyse the negative results of the consultations held in France and the Netherlands on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. It is necessary to look back at the text of the Constitutional Treaty, as well as at its genesis and drafting process, in order to ask: what innovations and improvements would its entry into force bring; what contributions would be lost if the attempt fails; what is, in short, the cost of Europe not having a Constitution; what are the alternatives for emerging from the crisis?
This research project aims to show that many innovations in the Constitutional Treaty are essential to respond to the interests and needs of European citizens, and to provide an analysis and a concrete proposal for the future of the Union from the perspective of the various possible scenarios and options.
In the first phase of the project, the research team led by Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, MEP, identified the main innovations and their contribution to the Union, concluding that:
- The European Constitutional Treaty contains innovations that seek to improve the effectiveness, democracy, transparency and visibility of the Union. The group also analysed the shortcomings of the Constitutional Treaty with a view to possible future discussion.
- The report aims to highlight the Cost of Non-Constitution, i.e. the loss that would be incurred if the European Constitutional Treaty did not enter into force.
- Some of these innovations could be achieved, even without the entry into force of the Constitutional Treaty in its current version, through other routes. This first part is an approximation to the study that will be carried out throughout 2007 on the possible scenarios and alternatives in relation to the European Constitutional Treaty and the future of the European Union.
In the second phase of the project, the research team will analyse the different scenarios for a way out of the current situation and propose alternatives. The results of this second phase were presented at the European Institute in Florence in April 2007.
The final result of this research is a book in Spanish published in the Law Collection of the Rafael del Pino Foundation. In addition, the publication of the book in English is planned, as well as the circulation of executive summaries among the main European interlocutors in order to provide a first-rate analytical tool that will contribute to fostering the debate on these issues at European level.
