Federalism in the European Union

Elke Cloots, Geert De Baere, Stefan Sottiaux, Elke Cloots, Geert De Baere, Stefan Sottiaux

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781849462426
• eBook ISBN:
  9781847319975
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Derecho
• Subtopic: Derecho internacional

This edited volume aims to reveal the Janus-faced character of federalism in the European Union. Federalism appears in two main forms in the EU. On the one hand, numerous formerly unitary Member States have embarked on a path towards a (quasi-)federal governance structure. On the other hand, the EU itself is sometimes qualified as a federal system. Significantly, the concept of federalism has a very different, even opposite, connotation in both contexts. When associated with Member State reform, federalism is regarded as a technique for accommodating autonomy claims of sub-state nations. By contrast, when federalism is used as a label for the EU itself, it is conceived as a far-reaching way of integrating the nations of Europe. This dual appearance of federalism in the EU context is central to the structure of the book. The first collection of essays addresses the question whether the EU may be described as a federal system, and whether it can learn from existing federations. In the second set of contributions, the attention shifts to domestic federalisation processes, more particularly to the impact of these processes on EU law and vice versa.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Prelims
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Summary Contents
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Introduction: Federalism's Janus Face
• Part I. Federalism in the EU's Constitutional Structure
• 1. EU Federalism in 3-D
• 2. Federalism and Jurisdiction
• 3. Federalism, the EU and International Law
• 4. The Court of Justice as a Federal Constitutional Court: A Comparative Perspective
• 5. The Dual System of Rights Protection in the European Union in Light of US Federalism
• 6. Federalism and International Relations in the European Union and the United States: A Comparative Outlook
• Part II. EU Law and Member State Federalism
• 7. European Ties that Bind: Political or Cultural?
• 8. Does EU Decision-Making Take into Account Regional Interests?
• 9. The Role of Sub-State Entities in the EU Decision-Making Processes: A Comparative Constitutional Law Approach
• 10. Autonomous Constitutional Regions in a Federal Europe
• 11. The European Court of Justice and the Devolution of Taxation Powers
• 12. The Impact of EU Law on the Devolution of Social Powers in the Member States
• 13. EU Law and Language Regulation in (Quasi-) Federal Member States
• 14. The European Court of Justice and Member State Federalism: Balancing or Categorisation?
• 15. The Impact of 'Regional Blindness' on the Italian Regional State
• 16. The Spanish State Structure and EU Law: The View of the Spanish Constitutional Court
• 17. Economic and Monetary Union: Caught between Brussels and Luxembourg?
• Index