The Making of a Transnational Constitution: An Institutionalist Perspective on the European Convention

Abstract

No matter how one evaluates the product of its work, the Convention on the Future ofEurope has marked a turning point in the history of European integration. This article is divided into three parts. The first presents the different actors who participated in the Convention and the cleavages that existed within the assembly. The secondpart addresses the impact of these cleavages and the logics that shaped the final compromise.In the third part, we will attempt to analyze the respective importance of these variousdecision-making modes and the variables that determined their relative influence. Goingbeyond the classical opposition between deliberation and negotiation often used to describethe work of the Convention, we will argue that the choices made on the composition andfunctioning of the Convention had a strong influence on its work, and therefore, on thesubstance of the draft constitution.Constitution for Europe; European Convention