From the Charter to the Constitution of Europe? Notes on the Constitutionalisation Process in the EU

This paper offers a number of thoughts on the present constitutional debate in Europe.It suggests some of the reasons why this has now acquired political relevance, but italso caution against the rushing to the conclusion that Europe needs a 'formal'constitution. Indeed part of the paper's argument is that there are both procedural andsubstantive reasons in favour of a more gradualist process of constitutionalisation ofEurope, which may rest on a different understanding of the relationship between theformal and the material constitution.. The case is argued in relation to theConstitutional Convention and its outcome, but is also based on a reading of theConvention on the European Charter for Fundamental Rights, which emphasis how itsfinality, process and outcome are inherently 'ambiguous'.