UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Law, practice and convention in the constitution of the European Union Beukers, T. Publication date 2011 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Beukers, T. (2011). Law, practice and convention in the constitution of the European Union. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:30 Sep 2021 Acknowledgments Writing this book was a most fascinating journey. It took me to many different places in Europe where I learned from insiders how Europe works. I enjoyed true hospitality in the beautiful English countryside, in the centre of modern Copenhagen and lively Madrid, in the classy Parioli and Monte Verde areas of charming Rome, in the overwhelming House of Lords, in Glasgow’s sophisticated Fantoosh bar, and closer to home, in The Hague. I enjoyed elegant Paris, visited skyscrapers in the heart of London, defied Greek strikes to get to the Headquarters of the National Secret Service in Athens, got a glimpse behind the scenes of the impressive Farnesina and the exclusive Quirinale in Rome, and became a regular customer at the European institutions in Brussels and Luxembourg. For the invaluable insiders’ experience on which this book builds I thank Jochen Grünhage, Ronald van Beuge, Paolo Ponzano, Roberto Rossi, Jan de Bock, David Bostock, Pietro Calamia, Luc Carbonez, Ken Collins, Joseph Coolegem, Ioannis Corantis, Fabio Fabbri, Judith Gebetsroithner, Klaus Hänsch, Anne Lambert, Marc Lepoivre, Edith Mastenbroek, Una O’Dwyer, Ate Oostra, Niels Pultz, Mel Read, Gunnar Riberholdt, Charles Rutten, François Scheer, Michael Shackleton, Jean-Louis Six, Niels Henrik Sliben, Thierry Stoll, Bill Stow, Roger Vanhaeren, Graham Watson and Jan Marinus Wiersma. Auke Baas, Charlotte Burns, Richard Corbett, Bart Driessen, Andrew Duff, Giuseppe Maria Buccino Grimaldi, Jean-Marc Hoscheit, Guillaume McLaughlin, Luuk van Middelaar, Jan Mulder, Silvano Presa and Maarten Smit all in their own way offered me both valuable insights and/or stimulating discussion. Writing this book was also a constantly pleasant academic journey. I am particularly grateful to my supervisor, Tom Eijsbouts, for always being positive and inspiring. I am also grateful to the members of my doctoral committee, Damian Chalmers, Deirdre Curtin, Jit Peters, Jan Herman Reestman, Linda Senden and Bernard Steunenberg. Rodney Brazier and Joseph Jaconelli have shown true academic hospitality at the University of Manchester. During this academic journey I have been accompanied by many to which I am grateful: my fellow Academic Club members Laurens Dragstra, Geranne Lautenbach, David Moszkowicz, Ceciel Rayer and Wolfgang Sakulin; my colleagues at the University of Amsterdam, in particular Ronald van Ooik, Jurian Langer and Thomas Vandamme; later, my colleagues at Utrecht University, in particular Sybe de Vries, Ige Dekker, Sacha Prechal and Marloes Ramp. I have been lucky to share my office with Ymke Hofhuis, Michael Frese, Hanneke van Eijken, Margot Aelen, Thomas Nauta and Marco Botta; I have been fortunate to learn from my (fellow) editors at the European Constitutional Law Review. Herman van Harten and Martyn Top, I am honoured to have you as ‘paranimfen’. I dedicate this book to my parents. Life is beautiful because of Dafna, and even more so with Noam. Amsterdam, February 2011 Thomas Beukers .