Why is there No EU Constitution? An Analysis of Institutional Constitution-Making in the European Union

In 2001, European leaders met in Laeken, Belgium at the Convention on the Future of Europe to discuss the direction and agenda for a stronger, more united European Union, as well as consider the possibility of a European Constitution. The bulk and complexity of EU legislation has made decision-making and institutional operations quite difficult, and many EU officials believed that a more concise and consolidated document encompassing all current EU treaties would offer clarity and transparency, while also creating more opportunities for improved policy coordination and public participation. Over a two-year period, officials drafted a lengthy Constitution of over 250 pages, detailing the structure, procedures, and competences of the EU, and these elites felt that their hard work would be well received and accepted by the European public. However, when the draft was sent out to member states for ratification, it was rejected by both France and the Netherlands, and the EU postponed the constitutional project indefinitely. After all of the time, money, energy and resources invested in the European Constitution, why did this project fail? This thesis will examine why there is no constitution for the European Union, for given the pro-European stance of the majority of member states and the consensus of heads of states on the Constitutional Treaty, the document should have passed. The overarching hypothesis guiding this study is that the drafting process was not conducive to successfully creating a constitution for the multi-national polity; within this initial hypothesis, three sub-hypotheses are also proposed, each examining a particular aspect of the constitutional writing process. Data used in this research includes both quantitative and qualitative elements, although the majority of evidence is mostly qualitative in nature. Quantitative data consists mainly of polling results and other statistics on EU legislative data and EU public opinion. Main sources of information include primary documents from the constitutional deliberations (both working documents and final publications), press releases, and official public statements. Secondary sources from other academics are also consulted. This project first suggests that the structure and decision-making processes of the EU are not favourable to creating large pieces of legislation, such as a constitution. With complicated voting procedures and the insistence upon unanimity during many decision-making processes, the nature of the EU is such that perhaps only superficial and ineffective agreements could be reached regarding constitutional issues. Research on national referenda and public opinion leads to the second sub-hypothesis, arguing that the drafting process seemed undemocratic to the national populations and thus contributing to the Constitution’s rejection. This hypothesis is considered in two parts: first, that there was not enough public consultation; second, that individuals participating in the drafting process were unrepresentative of member state populations. Conflicting motivations and national preferences of elites form the third hypothesis to explain the document’s failure, as different national agendas tried to create a constitution more favourable to some member states than others. Additionally, member states were committed to different EU goals, such as a federalist or confederalist Europe. The constitutional drafters had a plausible and laudable idea to create a “single legal personality,” making the EU better suited to “negotiate and ratify international treaties” and to become a member of “certain international organisations,” but the constitution also had numerous other goals, including military and social policy-making, which were not so well received by member states. The failure of the draft Constitution suggests that the EU must more clearly define its objectives before it can truly maximize its power and authority on an international scale. After analysing how the Convention on the Future of Europe was organised and managed, the degree to which Convention elites interacted with the European public, and the various disputes between delegates, it is clear that all three of this thesis’ hypotheses contributed to the failure of the European Constitution; nevertheless, not all of the hypotheses can be given the same weight, as certain factors had considerably more negative effects on the Constitution’s outcome than others. Research on the different elite motives and agendas shows that there was considerable tension amongst participants, but this type of conflict is not exclusive to the Convention on the Future of Europe. Throughout EU history, member states have frequently disagreed with each other, over both serious and more minor issues, yet the institution has still experienced over 50 years of success in reaching policy and legislative decisions, even while increasing the number of member states attending EU conferences and thus increasing to the number of possible preferences and national biases. Therefore, it is difficult to attribute the failure of the European Constitution to this hypothesis alone. Evidence suggests that structural and procedural difficulties, as well as poor communication between elites and the European public, were more influential in determining the outcome of the Constitution’s ratification. With the increased importance of public opinion during the constitutional process, inadequate consultation with European citizens and limited opportunities for civic participation appear to have had posed the greatest hindrance to public acceptance, while the complicated structure and inefficient procedures inherent within the EU further exacerbated the suboptimal elite-public relations. As the EU continues to expand and assert itself as a single entity on the global stage, improved processes are needed to more efficiently and effectively create legislation and enact any new policies to benefit Europe as a whole. The constitutional project may have failed, but it has provided insight into the current problems facing the institution today, and if officials take notice of the EU’s present shortcomings, there is the opportunity to correct past missteps and to move forward towards a more unified Europe

Iterativity and contemporary aspect selection in Upper Sorbian

In Upper Sorbian, as in the other contemporary Slavic languages, aspect is a grammatical category that characterizes the verbal system in its entirety. With the possible exception of certain types of verbs that are conventionally considered ‘biaspectual’,1 each verb form in the language expresses one of two aspects—perfective or imperfective. In most instances, verbs that share the same morphemic base and the same lexical meaning constitute a pair of aspectually complementary verbs; these are referred to as an ‘aspectual pair’. Thus, the Upper Sorbian (hereafter, USo) verb cˇinic´ is an aspectually imperfective verb signifying ‘to do’, and it is paired with the aspectually perfective verb scˇinic´ which likewise signifies ‘to do’. The paradigms of both verbs include two synthetically formed tenses, present (or ‘non-past’) and preterite.2 The synthetic non-past tense forms of the imperfective verb can denote an eventive present (sometimes designated by the Latin terms praesens actuale or praesens hic et nunc), while those of the perfective.Peer reviewed articl

Design of a division freight yard for the Illinois Central Railroad at Champaign, Illinois

Thesis (B.S.)--University of Illinois, 1908.Ms

Validation Testing of Hydrogen Generation Technology

This report describes the results of testing performed by ORNL for Photech Energies, Inc. The objective of the testing was to evaluate the efficacy of Photech's hydrogen generation reactor technology, which produces gaseous hydrogen through electrolysis. Photech provided several prototypes of their proprietary reactor for testing and the ancillary equipment, such as power supplies and electrolyte solutions, required for proper operation of the reactors. ORNL measured the production of hydrogen gas (volumetric flow of hydrogen at atmospheric pressure) as a function of input power and analyzed the composition of the output stream to determine the purity of the hydrogen content. ORNL attempted measurements on two basic versions of the prototype reactors-one version had a clear plastic outer cylinder, while another version had a stainless steel outer cylinder-but was only able to complete measurements on reactors in the plastic version. The problem observed in the stainless steel reactors was that in these reactors most of the hydrogen was produced near the anodes along with oxygen and the mixed gases made it impossible to determine the amount of hydrogen produced. In the plastic reactors the production of hydrogen gas increased monotonically with input power, and the flow rates increased faster at low input powers than they did at higher input powers. The maximum flow rate from the cathode port measured during the tests was 0.85 LPM at an input power of about 1100 W, an electrolyte concentration of 20%. The composition of the flow from the cathode port was primarily hydrogen and water vapor, with some oxygen and trace amounts of carbon dioxide. An operational mode that occurs briefly during certain operating conditions, and is characterized by flashes of light and violent bubbling near the cathode, might be attributable to the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen in the electrolyte solution

The Effects of Ceria Loading on Three-Way Catalysts for Passive SCR Operation

Passive SCR systems, which employ both a three-way catalyst and SCR catalyst, are effective for the reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from lean burn gasoline engines. However, questions remain regarding the effect of three-way catalyst formulations on their performance in these systems. Here, Pd/CeOx/Al2O3 catalysts with variable CeOx loading were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated to determine the effects of CeOx on catalyst performance. While a small amount of ceria was beneficial for promoting essential reactions, excess ceria was detrimental due to the increase in oxygen storage capacity. Additionally, insights into potential reaction pathways for NH3 production were determined

The Effects of Ceria Loading on Three-Way Catalysts for Passive SCR Operation

Passive SCR systems, which employ both a three-way catalyst and SCR catalyst, are effective for the reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from lean burn gasoline engines. However, questions remain regarding the effect of three-way catalyst formulations on their performance in these systems. Here, Pd/CeOx/Al2O3 catalysts with variable CeOx loading were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated to determine the effects of CeOx on catalyst performance. While a small amount of ceria was beneficial for promoting essential reactions, excess ceria was detrimental due to the increase in oxygen storage capacity. Additionally, insights into potential reaction pathways for NH3 production were determined

Dual Mode NOx Sensor: Measuring Both the Accumulated Amount and Instantaneous Level at Low Concentrations

The accumulating-type (or integrating-type) NOx sensor principle offers two operation modes to measure low levels of NOx: The direct signal gives the total amount dosed over a time interval and its derivative the instantaneous concentration. With a linear sensor response, no baseline drift, and both response times and recovery times in the range of the gas exchange time of the test bench (5 to 7 s), the integrating sensor is well suited to reliably detect low levels of NOx. Experimental results are presented demonstrating the sensor’s integrating properties for the total amount detection and its sensitivity to both NO and to NO2. We also show the correlation between the derivative of the sensor signal and the known gas concentration. The long-term detection of NOx in the sub-ppm range (e.g., for air quality measurements) is discussed. Additionally, a self-adaption of the measurement range taking advantage of the temperature dependency of the sensitivity is addressed