'Euro-Visions'? Some thoughts on prospects and mechanisms for future constitutional change in the European Union

This chapter begins by outlining possible ways of making changes of a constitutional nature within the EU. It suggests that careful matching of procedures to issues should be conducted to increase the chances of successful future constitutional reform. It then discusses strategies for coping with the results of the two negative referendums, examining briefly the legal position of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE) and some of the political moves made during the first part of the period of reflection, as well as seeking to unpack some of the reasons that lay behind the rejection of the TCE in France and the Netherlands. It is argued that an understanding of these complexities is important to providing the necessary background to any future constitutional reform proposals, whether in the form of Treaty amendments or by other means. Two particular issues are raised which can safely and legitimately be pursued even in the absence of any (imminent) ratification of the TCE as it stands: the improvement of the transparency of EC proceedings and the application of the principle of subsidiarity in conjunction with national Parliaments