The Lisbon Treaty and Political Challenges for the EU

Course Syllabus

GOALS OF THE COURSE

To describe the reform process leading to the signing and ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

To analyze the contents of the Lisbon Treaty and the corresponding institutional changes, in comparison with the failed Constitutional Treaty.

To study the current political challenges facing European integration in the wake of the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

CONTENTS

The course starts with a historical overview of European integration. It focuses on the successive enlargements and treaties amending the Rome Treaties.

The course then analyzes the reform process in the 2000s. It deals with the Constitutional Treaty and discusses reasons for its rejection.

The adoption and ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty are then studied.

Then, the institutional changes brought about by the Lisbon treaty are analyzed. This part focuses on the institutional reforms which have been performed and compares the Lisbon treaty with the failed constitutional treaty.

The power balance between small and large member states is analyzed, as well as the balance between old (western) Member States and newer (mainly central and Eastern European) Member States.

The course also deals with the institutional challenges faced by the EU and explores the governance changes induced by the current budgetary crisis.

It then ends with an analysis of the consequences entailed by the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty affecting the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, as well as External Relations of the EU.

TEACHING SESSIONS

There will be 3 teaching sessions as follows: -each session will last 2 teaching hours-

SESSION 1: THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE TREATY: THE END OF A 10-YEAR STRUGGLE

The road to the Lisbon Treaty

I - The Constitutional Treaty: the failure to achieve reform

Historical overview of European integration

The Constitutional Treaty: a European Constitution?

Contents of the Constitutional Treaty

The failed ratification process - French and Dutch referendums -

II - The drafting of the Lisbon Treaty : resuming reform

The work of the German Presidency

The drafting of the Lisbon Treaty -IGC vs Convention-

III - The completion of the ratification process

Overcome hardships

The Irish case

The German Constitutional Court

Focus on the Czech Republic

SESSION 2: THE POLITICAL CHANGES INDUCED BY THE TREATY (PART I)

Institutional Reform at last

I - The main institutional features of the Treaty-

Giving up symbolical provisions

Holding on to the main institutional provisions

II - Innovative provisions

A new proactive role for the Union

Focus on the new role granted to national parliaments

III - The appointments to key positions

Appointments in the wake of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty

The new Commission and new key Figures

SESSION 3: THE POLITICAL CHANGES INDUCED BY THE TREATY (PART II)

The aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty and the Response to the Crisis

I - The Lisbon Treaty : a European Constitution ?

The lack of a formal Constitution

The constitutional features

Focus: the point of view of the French Conseil Constitutionnel

II - FOCUS : The EU in foreign relations

The CFSP

What role does the EU play in international relations?

Focus: the Neighbouring Policy

III - FOCUS : The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

AFSJ achievements

The Lisbon Treaty and the AFSJ

Challenges ahead

IV - FOCUS: The budgetary crisis

The new institutional framework facing the challenge of the budgetary crisis

The "Fiscal Compact" Treaty

The key Role played by the ECB

The debate on Economic Policy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- "An Association of Sovereign States", European Constitutional Law Review, 2009/3, pp 391-406.

- Defending Sovereign Statehood against transforming the Union into a State, European Constitutional Law Review, 2009/3, pp 353-373.

- EU Law after Lisbon, Andrea, Piet Eeckhout and Stefanie Ripley Biondi eds, Oxford University Press, 2012.

- Institutional Dimension of Constitutional Pluralism, Jan Komarek, Eric Stein Working Paper N° 3/2010, London School of Economics and Political Science.

- System Pluralism and Institutional Pluralism in Constitutional Law: National, Supranational and Global Governance, Daniel Halberstam, University of Michigan Public Law Working Paper N°229.

- The Constitutional Law of the European Union, James D. Dinnage, Jean-Luc Laffineur, LexisNexis, Second Edition, 2010.

- The Czech Constitutional Court's Second Decision on the Lisbon Treaty of 3 November 2009, European Constitutional Law Review, 2009/3, pp 345-352

- The Fabulous Destiny of the EC Treaty: from Treaty to Constitution to Treaty again?, Irish Journal of European Law, Vol 15, n° 49, 2008.

- The Franco-German Constitutional Divide: Reflection on National and Constitutional Identity, European Constitutional Law Review, 2009/3, pp 374-390,

- The Lisbon Treaty: a Legal and Political Analysis, Jean-Claude Piris, Cambridge University Press, 2010.

- The Lisbon Treaty: Constitutionalism without a Constitutional Treaty?, Stefan Griller and Jacques Ziller eds, ECSA Austria, vol 11/2008.

- Why the European Union is not a State - Some critical Remarks, European Constitutional Law Review, 2009/3, pp 407-420.

- Wir sind das Volk: Notes about the Notion of "the People" as Occasioned by the Lissabon-Urteil, European Constitutional Law Review, 2010/02, pp 199-222.

GRADING

Students will be asked to answer 3 questions directly related to topics analyzed and discussed during the teaching sessions. They will be required to provide 3 one-page responses using material obtained during the sessions. They will not be required to provide additional information. They will be asked to write in English.

The final exam will take place at the end of the teaching sessions. Students will have 1 hour to answer the 3 questions. Besides their knowledge of the topics, they will be asked to demonstrate their ability to analyze the issues at stake in light of the integration process and the various political interests at stake. Therefore, students’ analyses will be highly valued, more than knowledge of legal details. Students should thus prepare for the exam not only by learning information received during classes but also by developing their own thinking about the political issues at stake.

Grades will be awarded according to the Czech grading system.