Convergence And Divergence In European Public Law

CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE IN EUROPEAN PUBLIC LAW Convergence and Divergence in European Public Law Edited by PAUL BEAUMONT CAROLE LYONS and NEIL WALKER OXFORD – PORTLAND OREGON 2002 Hart Publishing Oxford and Portland, Oregon Published in North America (US and Canada) by Hart Publishing c/o International Specialized Book Services 5804 NE Hassalo Street Portland, Oregon 97213-3644 USA Distributed in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg by Intersentia, Churchillaan 108 B2900 Schoten Antwerpen Belgium © The editors and contributors severally 2002 The editors and authors have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work Hart Publishing is a specialist legal publisher based in Oxford, England. To order further copies of this book or to request a list of other publications please write to: Hart Publishing, Salter’s Boatyard, Folly Bridge, Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4LB Telephone: +44 (0)1865 245533 or Fax: +44 (0)1865 794882 e-mail: [email protected] WEBSITE: http//www.hartpub.co.uk British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data Available ISBN 1–84113–211–X (hardback) Typeset by Hope Services (Abingdon) Ltd. Printed and bound in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd, www.biddles.co.uk Preface The title of this volume suggests a theme at least as old as the European Union (and its predecessor supranational Communities) itself, but one still central to the major debates and controversies about its current and future design and direction. The more that the European Union extends its powers, its jurisdiction and its influence within the changing political configuration of a postWestphalian world, and the more that it engages the fears and aspirations of Europe’s politicians and publics, the more pressing the fundamental question about the relationship between its legal order and the continuing legal orders of its member states becomes. Not surprisingly, for all the recent discussion about providing some fixed and final framework and ultimate vision for the European Union, contestation over the proper legal shape and scope of the European polity appears to be increasing in direct proportion to its growing political and economic significance. Just as the old question has proved resilient, so too has the rhetorical opposition in terms of which it has often been framed. It may no longer be considered serious or respectable to view European Union law in general and European public law in particular as a one-way train towards integration. Equally, it may no longer be considered serious or respectable to view the European Union Treaty framework as a limited or reversible political experiment—one that does not and should not challenge the longstanding hegemony of the European