The European Republic: Reflections on the Political Economy of a Future Constitution

by Stefan Collignon

Part of a broader project on the impact of European Monetary Union (EMU), carried out by the Bertelsmann Foundation in co-operation with the Center for Applied Policy Research at the University of Munich, this project, ""The Consequences of the Euro,"" focuses on modeling a European political system able to live up to the changes as well as the risks involved in handling a common currency. Stefan Collignon reflects on the political economy of a future European constitution. He explores in particular the elusive economic and monetary policy mix that is called for within the developing framework of European integration, the issues of fiscal federalism and subsidiarity, and contrasting voluntary policy co-ordination. He also balances the demands of the Stability and Growth Pact with the embryonic consensual foundations of a European welfare function. Professor Collignon argues that collective action problems require a courageous step forward in creating coherent governance structures for the Union and that it has become essential to give European citizens their democratic right to political autonomy, taking the European ""common concern"" out of the sole hands of national governments.

212 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2003