| Abstract: | The negative results of the referenda on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE) in France and the Netherlands have twisted the European Union into an inert beast. There are several options to solve the institutional, procedural and constitutional crisis: A further delay of the ratification process is risky. The success of such a strategy depends largely upon the readiness of Europe’s political actors to stick with the political and institutional reforms aimed at in the TCE. A withdrawal or exclusion of all those states which are not ready to take up the TCE appears politically inopportune at the present time. Strategies on the basis of the status quo can only bring success if the actors resolutely push for the implementation of the reforms in the TCE which, after all, were agreed to among parliaments, government representatives and a large part of civil society. Although EU-treaty based and extra-constitutional means of closer or flexible cooperation may successfully address the challenges of the EU’s efficiency and effectiveness, they are likely to intensify the EU’s deficits of democratic accountability and transparency. |
