The present efforts in Europe to achieve more uniformity in private law and the debates on a European civil code need to be understood in a wider context. Europe is plagued by concerns over its problem-solving potential and its acceptance amongst citizens. The response is ambitious projects....

The essay starts from the assumption that the efforts to cure Europe’s democracy deficits will also have to address the social problématique of the Europeanization process. This is a challenge with new dimensions. Europe had started its integrationist path as a mere economic community. In its...

This article describes and critically analyses the proposed new typology of acts in the draft treaty establishing a constitution for Europe and its implications for the EU legal system. It comments on the categories of act on the three levels of constitutional law, legislation and...

The European Union is commonly described as a temple-like construction resting upon three pillars. Whereas the first pillar, Community law, constitutes a "new legal order" of supranational character, the second and third pillar are considered to be of intergovernmental kind, i.e. traditional...

The Maastricht-Urteil of the German Constitutional Court of October 1993 has left a deep mark on European Union law. Although some may consider it as part of legal history, the decision has never been overruled, and the ideas behind it are very much alive. This paper tries to examine the legacy...

Does the Community legal order constitute a closed ‘self-contained regime’ or will it be an ‘open system’? While founded on the basis of an international treaty, the European Community still has to determine – not unlike national legal orders – the effects of public international law...

From the perspective of the concept of legalization, the European Union (EU) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) both have a high degree of implementation powers delegated to them by the Member States. Beyond this categorization there are substantial differences in how they use the...

The third part of the Constitution for Europe has been submitted to hard criticism. The content of this part however, is indispensable to a Constitution of the European Union as it is a consolidation of the legal bases and institutional details which are necessary to the functioning of the EU....

The European Community has had a decidedly significant impact upon the legal systems of the Member States. It was established in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, the main objectives being to develop stability throughout Europe by means of encouraging a closer union between member states. It has...