Constitutionalizing the EU in an Age of Emergencies

Bibliographic Data

ID6282824
AuthorsJonathan White (0000-0002-4668-698X, London School of Economics London UK, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume61
Issue3
Pages781-796
Publication date2023-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJCMS Journal of Common Market Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9886 • E-ISSN: 1468-5965
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jcms.13415
OpenAlexW4296524227
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited36

Over the last decade especially, European authorities have successively invoked exceptional measures in the name of exceptional circumstances. This improvised mode of emergency response raises problems for EU legitimacy. After a brief analysis of the core patterns, the article examines the scope for reform. It considers the case for pre‐emptively strengthening the EU's emergency powers in the form of an ‘emergency constitution’. It goes on to argue for more radical EU constitutional change, focused not on regulating the exceptional moment but simplifying and democratizing executive power, such that when hard times arrive it is better tied to a critical public. A concluding section discusses what can be achieved by retrospective contestation, as an interim solution in advance of constitutional change

Business · Constitution · Interim · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Scope (computer science · Section (typography · Sociology · Veto · Computer Science · European and International Law Studies · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Public Administration