EU Enlargement and the Constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe

In the wake of the EU's East enlargement, this book explores the adaptation of the constitutions of central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for membership in the European Union. In response to the painful past, these new constitutions were notably closed to the transfer of powers to international organizations, and accorded a prominent status to sovereignty and independence. A little more than a decade later, the process of amending these provisions in view of the transfer of sovereign powers to a supra-national organization has proved a sensitive and controversial exercise. This book analyses the amendments against the background of comparative experience and theory of sovereignty, as well as the context of political sensitivities, such as rising euroscepiticsm ahead of acession referendums. It concludes with a broader enquiry into the role and rational of the national constitutions in the process of European integration, and the implications of the European constitution, in the framework of the debate on European constitutionalism and post-national governance.