Publication

This issue discusses the substantial changes the draft Constitutional Treaty (CT) adopted by the Convention on the future of Europe will bring to the European Union. Its purpose is to assess its likely impacts. In a first part the article provides a general overview over the institutional changes and the new procedures concerning subsidiarity and Member States' competences. The article includes an analysis of the alteration in the Union's external affairs and in its economic and financial governance. In a last part, the authors discuss the reactions of the Member States to the CT. They conclude that the failure of the reforms to properly deal with the internal and external challenges is not due to institutional shortcomings. According to them, the lack of political will of the Member States to adopt a common vision of Europe's future is the reason for which this draft version is the maximum that could have been achieved.