The European Constitution. Its Origins, Negotiation and Meaning by Guy Milton and Jacques Keller‐Noëllet with Agnieszka Bartol‐Saurel
| Author | Alicia Hinarejos Parga |
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2006.614_4.x |
GuyMiltonandJacquesKeller-Noe
«llet with Agnieszka Bartol-Saurel,The European
Constitution. Its Origins, Negotiation and Meaning,London: John Harper,
2005, x þ17 7 p p, p b d15.00.
The purpose of thisbook is twofold. First, theauthors aim to present and explain
the institutional process the European Union has gone through; a process which
culminated in the signature by the heads of state or government of the member
states of theTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in October 2004.The
second goal of this monograph is to examine the substantial provisions of the
constitutional treaty and the changes they have undergone along this process,
exposing the political issues behind the most problematic sections and assessing
the ¢nal global result.
Given its tit le and the amount of opportunistic and/or propagandisticl iterature
published on this matter in recent years, this book could be easily mistaken for
what it is not: a guide to the European Constitution fordummies. In fact, it is a
highly informative and interesting account of the process l eading to the adoption
of the Constitution and of the constitutional text itself. Due to theclose involve-
ment of the authors in the drafting (two of themwere members of the Secretariat
to the Convention, all of them worked on the Intergovernmental Conference),
they are in a position to o¡er not only a general description and critique of the
successes and failures of the Constitution but also a very sharpçat times even
wittyçinsight into the twists and turns of the negotiations as well as into the
motives and characters of the most prominent ¢gures involved.
The authors start by presenting us with a concise historical introduction,
explaining the origins and subsequent evolution of the European Union, up to
the point where draftinga Constitution seemed to bethe next and necessary step
forward.The book ta kes its readers through the process o f birth and growth of the
European Convention, the purpose of which was, initially, rather nebulous.The
authors present an insider’s view of how this purpose eventuallycame to be de¢ned
and realized,including insights about the role of some key players(especially Gis-
card d’Estaing). A ¢rst appraisal of the textproduced by the Convention follows,
with mixed results.The fundamentals of the draftConstitution are deemeda suc-
cess, while the provisions on the substantive policies of the Union have obvious
ups and downs and those onthe institutions are considered bythe authors a story
of missed opportunities. We are taken aft er this ¢rst assessment through the Inter-
governmentalConference which followed the Convention, whereby we come to
understand why, even though some changes were introduced, the or iginal text of
the draft Constitution was, to a surprising extent, viewed with respect. The most
controversialdiscussions and negotiations which tookplace, such as theextension
of Quali¢ed Majority Voting and the composition of the Commission, are
exhaustively documented. At this point the insider’s view o¡ered by the authors
is, again, most valuable:we are given an honest and incisive account of the e¡ects
of Realpolitik on the originalproduct of the Convention.
The conclusion of the book consists of an assessment of the Constitution
against the standards of certainty, durability, readability, adaptability, and novelty.
The authors are not shy to criticise the shortcomings of the text but, on the
whole, consider the result positive andçunfortunately incorrectlyçexpect the
Reviews
865
rThe Modern LawReview Limited 2006
(2006) 69(5) MLR 855^86 8
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