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National Constitutional Avenues for Further Eu Integration

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National Constitutional Avenues for Further Eu Integration DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS LEGAL AFFAIRS CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL AVENUES FOR FURTHER EU INTEGRATION STUDY Abstract This study investigates national constitutional limits to further EU integration and explores ways to overcome them. It includes an in-depth examination of the constitutional systems of 12 Member States (Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom) and a bird’s eye view of all Member States. EU integration can be advanced by avoiding substantive constitutional obstacles in various ways. Overcoming the substantive obstacles requires managing national procedural constitutional hurdles. This is possible to the extent that the required broad political consensus exists. PE 493.046 EN This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committees on Legal Affairs and on Constitutional Affairs. AUTHOR(S) Mr Leonard F.M. BESSELINK Mrs Monica CLAES Mrs Šejla IMAMOVIĆ Mr Jan Herman REESTMAN RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Mrs Rosa RAFFAELLI Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Marcia MAGUIRE Policy Department C: Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: [email protected] European Parliament, manuscript completed in February 2014. Brussels, © European Union, 2014. This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. National Constitutional Avenues for Further EU Integration ___________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 1. INTRODUCTION 14 2. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 22 2.1. The situation under the current system 22 2.1.1. Substantive limits 22 2.1.2. Overcoming the substantive obstacles under the ccurrent treaties 25 2.1.3. Procedural limits 26 2.1.4. Overcoming procedural obstacles 27 2.2. Further treaty reform 28 2.2.1. Substantive reservations 28 2.2.2. Procedural hurdles foor further integration 31 2.2.3. Overcoming the hurdles 33 3. CONSTITUTIONAL AVENUES FOR FURTHER EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: SOME FINAL CONCLUSIONS 35 3.1. Avoiding substantive constitutional obstacles 36 3.1.1. Further integration under the current treaty frameework 36 3.1.2. Further integration beyond the current treaty framework 38 3.1.3. Overcoming substantive constitutional obstacles 38 ANNEX I: IN-DEPTH STUDY OF SELECTED MEMBER STATES 41 1. CROATIA 41 1.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 41 1.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 42 1.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 48 1.4. REFERENCES 51 2. THE CZECH REPUBLIC 53 2.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 53 2.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 54 2.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 63 2.4. REFERENCES 67 3 Policy Department Ciitizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. ESTONIA 68 3.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 68 3.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 69 3.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 75 3.4. REFERENCES 80 4. FINLAND 82 4.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 82 4.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 84 4.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 90 4.4. REFERENCES 92 5. FRANCE 93 5.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 93 5.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 94 5.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 104 5.4. REFERENCES 109 6. GERMANY 111 6.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 111 6.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 111 6.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 118 6.4. REFERENCES 125 7. HUNGARY 126 7.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 126 7.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 127 7.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 133 7.4. REFERENCES 135 8. IRELAND 136 8.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 136 8.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 137 8.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 145 8.4. REFERENCES 146 4 National Constitutional Avenues for Further EU Integration ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. ITALY 147 9.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 147 9.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 147 9.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 154 9.4. REFERENCES 157 10. THE NETHERLANDS 158 10.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 158 10.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 158 10.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 165 10.4. REFERENCES 170 11. POLAND 172 11.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 172 11.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 172 11.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 180 11.4. REFERENCES 182 12. THE UNITED KINGDOM 183 12.1. GENERAL CONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES 183 12.2. THE SITUATION UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM 183 12.3. FURTHER TREATY REFORM 193 12.4. REFERENCES 196 ANNEX II: BIRD’S EYE VIEW 197 1. AUSTRIA 197 2. BELGIUM 200 3. BULGARIA 202 4. CROATIA 205 5. CYPRUS 206 6. THE CZECH REPUBLIC 209 7. DENMARK 212 8. ESTONIA 214 9. FINLAND 216 5 Policy Department Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. FRANCE 218 11. GERMANY 221 12. GREECE 224 13. HUNGARY 226 14. IRELAND 227 15. ITALY 230 16. LATVIA 232 17. LITHUANIA 234 18. LUXEMBOURG 236 19. MALTA 238 20. THE NETHERLANDS 242 21. POLAND 243 22. PORTUGAL 246 23. ROMANIA 249 24. SLOVAKIA 252 25. SLOVENIA 253 26. SPAIN 255 27. SWEDEN 257 28. THE UNITED KINGDOM 261 ANNEX III: SCHEMATIC OVERVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE MEMBER STATES 263 ANNEX IV: GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS 274 ANNEX V: LIST OF EXPERTS 277 6 National Constitutional Avenues for Further EU Integration ___________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BVerfGE Entscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union CREAA Constitution of the Republic of Estonia Amendment Act EAW European Arrest Warrant ECHR European Convention of Human Rights ECtHR European Court of Human Rights ECSC European Coal and Steel Community EEA European Economic Area EEC European Economic Community EFSF European Financial Stability Facility ESM European Stability Mechanism GG Grundgesetz (Basic Law of Germany) SAA Stabilization and Association Agreement SEA Single European Act TEU Treaty on the European Union TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 7 Policy Department Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ___________________________________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The central research question of this study is whether, and to what extent, national constitutions provide guidance for further European integration and reversely how the latter can take place in full respect for national constitutional identities. 2. The research involved an in-depth analysis of a representative selection of Member States: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the UK; and a bird’s eye view of all Member States. The study conducts a cross-national comparative analysis of the national constitutional approaches to EU integration, on the basis of which some final conclusions are offered. 3. This study deals with the relationship between the EU and national constitutions mainly from a national perspective. But there is also another side of the story, taking the EU perspective. The EU Treaties (TEU and TFEU) acknowledge the central role of national constitutions, for instance when they require ratification by all the Member States ‘in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements’ for their entry into force, for their amendment and for the accession of new Member States. This presumably implies more than a mere procedural rule and acknowledges that the Treaties should also substantively be in accordance with national constitutions, or at least, it grants the Member States the opportunity, if their constitution so requires, to ensure that they do not enter into Treaties which would be unconstitutional. On a more general level, the EU expects its Member States to comply with the common fundamental constitutional values that all Member States share, and which also apply to the European Union (Arts. 2 and 7 TEU). More specifically with respect to fundamental rights protection, the Treaty, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the CJEU case law explicitly seek to connect EU human rights to the common constitutional traditions of the Member States. Yet, under the Treaties, the EU is not only bound to respect the common constitutional values of the Member States. In addition, Article 4(2) TEU obliges the Union to respect ‘their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government’. Accordingly, if the Union should fail to respect these national identities as inherent in their fundamental constitutional and political structures, it would infringe not only those identities, but also
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