The use of one and the same word, i.e. Justice in the English or French language to render the two concepts of Gerechtigkeit when the issue is about equitability or fairness in social relations, and of Justiz when the issue is about the administration of justice often leads lawyers to overlook...

How can sociology contribute to the understanding of the social and political transformations that are affecting contemporary Europe? The article proposes that sociological accounts of European integration should focus around the basic problem of internal differentiation and external adaptation...

After consecutive treaty amendments during the 1990s, the EU looks set for a conclusive revision through the process embodied by the Convention. Is the EU approaching what Joscka Fischer has coined the finality of European integration? This paper discusses the prelimininary results as well as...

This paper examines the Convention on the Future of Europe in terms of whether its work bears the imprint of a constitutional treaty or a constitution proper. Two constitutional visions for the EU are presented - deep diversity and constitutional patriotism - and assessed in relation to the...

The negative referendum results in France and the Netherlands have been construed as signs of a deep gap between the European Union’s leaders and its people(s). Treaty-making/change in the European Union has historically been conducted through an intergovernmental, executive-style approach,...

A comparison of the results of the six most recent Intergovernmental Conferences (IGCs) in the European Union (EU) indicates that member governments' success in achieving substantial compromises based on issue linkages differs across cases. An examination of supranational and intergovernmental...

In the following contribution I propose an analytical approach in which dealing with differences in decision-making is the central factor in explaining the output of European governance. It is the hypothesis that differences can, under certain conditions, be a positive potential for effective...

Joschka Fischer's well-known speech at the Humboldt University on 12 May 2000 marked the start of a wide-ranging and unprecedented debate on the future of Europe. Subsequent developments have led us from the Nice and Laeken declarations to the establishment of a 105 members comprising Convention...