Papers by Nicole Scicluna
Perspectives on Federalism
The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic p... more The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic politics – is challenged as never before. The growing disconnect between formally democratic procedures and substantive choice is well illustrated by the Greek crisis. Since its first bailout in May 2010, Greece has held four general elections and a referendum. Yet, the anti-austerity preferences of the Greek electorate have not been effectively translated into policy. This article uses the Greek crisis to analyse the EU’s democratic deficit, and the related issue of the locus of legal and political sovereignty in the EU. It argues that the EU’s constitutional framework is not sufficiently responsive to changing material conditions or to the changing preferences of Europeans. Thus, EU constitutionalism needs to be refashioned in order to strike a better balance between democratic and technocratic governance, as well as between the needs of individual citizens, national citizenries, and st...
Journal of Contemporary European Research, Aug 27, 2014
Perspectives on Federalism
The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic p... more The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic politics – is challenged as never before. The growing disconnect between formally democratic procedures and substantive choice is well illustrated by the Greek crisis. Since its first bailout in May 2010, Greece has held four general elections and a referendum. Yet, the anti-austerity preferences of the Greek electorate have not been effectively translated into policy. This article uses the Greek crisis to analyse the EU’s democratic deficit, and the related issue of the locus of legal and political sovereignty in the EU. It argues that the EU’s constitutional framework is not sufficiently responsive to changing material conditions or to the changing preferences of Europeans. Thus, EU constitutionalism needs to be refashioned in order to strike a better balance between democratic and technocratic governance, as well as between the needs of individual citizens, national citizenries, and st...
West European Politics, 2019
This article focuses on two trends emerging through the eurozone crisis, both of which diminish t... more This article focuses on two trends emerging through the eurozone crisis, both of which diminish the quality of democracy in the EU and its member states. Firstly, the crisis has led to an increased reliance on non-majoritarian institutions, such as the ECB, at the expense of democratic accountability. Secondly, the crisis has led to a new emphasis on coercive enforcement at the expense of the voluntary cooperation that previously characterised (and sustained) the EU as a community of law. Thus, the ECB's (over-)empowerment is a synecdoche of a wider problem: The EU's tendency to resort to technocratic governance in the face of challenges that require political contestation. In the absence of opportunities for democratic contestation, EU emergency governance (Integration through Crisis) oscillates between moments of heightened politicisation, in which ad hoc decisions are justified as necessary, and the (sometimes coercive) appeal to the depoliticised rule of rules.
Journal of European Public Policy (JEPP), 2018
Rather than halting European integration, the euro crisis, in some ways, has accelerated it. Howe... more Rather than halting European integration, the euro crisis, in some ways, has accelerated it. However, it is integration of a different type, which departs significantly from the rule of law-based model of integration that traditionally burnished the European Union’s legitimacy. The crisis-induced transformation of the European Central Bank (ECB) captures this trend. Through schemes such as Outright Monetary Transactions, the Bank bolstered its capacity to stabilize the euro without having its mandate formally enlarged, thus confirming the ascendency of technocratic, and often ad hoc, governance over democratically and legally circumscribed alternatives. This article posits the ECB’s expanded and politicized role as the manifestation of a new mode of integration – integration through the disintegration of law – which inverts the court-driven integration-through-law that consolidated the single market. However, the lack of a solid legitimacy base casts doubt on the long-term sustainability of this integration mode.
Perspectives on Federalism, 2017
The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic p... more The robustness of the EU’s constitutional framework – and its ability to accommodate democratic politics – is challenged as never before. The growing disconnect between formally democratic procedures and substantive choice is well illustrated by the Greek crisis. Since its first bailout in May 2010, Greece has held four general elections and a referendum. Yet, the anti-austerity preferences of the Greek electorate have not been effectively translated into policy.
This article uses the Greek crisis to analyse the EU’s democratic deficit, and the related issue of the locus of legal and political sovereignty in the EU. It argues that the EU’s constitutional framework is not sufficiently responsive to changing material conditions or to the changing preferences of Europeans. Thus, EU constitutionalism needs to be refashioned in order to strike a better balance between democratic and technocratic governance, as well as between the needs of individual citizens, national citizenries, and states.
For the first time since its creation, the European Union (EU) has been living its probably most ... more For the first time since its creation, the European Union (EU) has been living its probably most significant identity crisis. This crisis has its roots in different critical situations that have hit the EU, have affected its functioning and have fundamentally questioned its legitimacy. The gaps in the EU integration process have been uncovered and the fragmentation of EU policies has become a source of different risks.
On the anniversary of sixty years of the Rome Treaties, this Special Issue aims to reflect on the paradigms for EU law looking beyond their competing accounts of EU integration. The analysis is developed through a series of contributions that challenge the paradigms in different directions. The discussion is articulated on two levels. On the one hand, a group of contributions focuses on the historical and legal analysis of the emergence and transformation of the EU legal order. These contributions delve deeper into the absence of a European identity and go beyond the inherent critique that the EU is a demoi-cracy that struggles with a democratic disconnect or even deficit. On the other hand, other contributions debate paradigms and their implementation in important policy domains. These contributions aim to give a more practical perspective on the constitutional and/or administrative character of the European Union, showing its implications and concrete questions.
Russland und China sind ungleiche Verbündete. Vieles trennt sie, doch die Angst vor Oppositionsbe... more Russland und China sind ungleiche Verbündete. Vieles trennt sie, doch die Angst vor Oppositionsbewegungen verbindet sie. China hat Russlands Reaktion auf den ukrainischen Euromajdan, die „präventive Konterrevolution“ im Donbass und die Annexion der Krim offiziell kaum kritisiert. In der chinesischen Gesellschaft ist das Vorgehen Moskaus sogar auf Zustimmung gestoßen. Dies scheint Chinas Interesse an den Prinzipien der territorialen Integrität und der Nichteinmischung zu widersprechen. Russlands Versuch, die Regeln der internationalen Beziehungen neu zu schreiben und der Hegemonie des Westens etwas entgegenzusetzen, ist jedoch durchaus im Einklang mit Chinas Politik der vergangenen Jahre.
International Journal of Constitutional Law, Nov 2014
This article demonstrates how the European integration process overburdened EU law in an attempt ... more This article demonstrates how the European integration process overburdened EU law in an attempt to overcome political deficiencies, with negative consequences for the EU’s democratic legitimacy. The analysis is framed by the “twin crises” of twenty-first-century EU constitutionalism: the defeat of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005 and the unfolding Eurozone debt crisis. Part of the legacy of the first crisis was a retreat from the ideal of democratization via politicization. Now, as a result of the second crisis, the integration project has become politicized and European policies highly salient for national voters. However, this process has occurred largely against the will of EU leaders, who have sought technocratic solutions to what are inherently political problems. Thus, over the past decade, the EU has moved from an unsuccessful attempt at democratization via politicization to an unintended politicization without democratization.
Journal of Contemporary European Research, Sep 2014
The euro crisis points towards the limits of the post-war pro-European integration consensus in G... more The euro crisis points towards the limits of the post-war pro-European integration consensus in Germany, a trend that has manifested itself in both the legal and political realms. In the legal arena, the powerful German Constitutional Court (GCC) has heard complaints on several key rescue measures, including the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) bond buying programme. The Court’s ruminations on these initiatives both reflect and feed German eurosceptics’ concerns. They also have implications for the Eurozone as a whole, insofar as they limit the German government’s room to manoeuvre. In the political arena, a new eurosceptic party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), contested the September 2013 federal election and the May 2014 European parliamentary election, winning a handful of seats in the latter. AfD’s emergence potentially marks a shift towards a more overtly eurosceptical political discourse in Germany. Thus, both legal and political developments have the potential to constrain the choices for the EU as a whole by reconfiguring the political and policy landscape of Germany, the Union’s reluctant hegemon.
Law and Courts: Newsletter of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Apr 2013
European Law Journal, Jul 2012
The Lisbon Treaty was supposed to mark the end of an almost-decade-long period of treaty reform. ... more The Lisbon Treaty was supposed to mark the end of an almost-decade-long period of treaty reform. After the tumult of the failed Constitutional Treaty, the settle- ment it imposed struck a sustainable balance between the competing forces of centralisa- tion and the diffusion that characterise European integration. Yet this constitutional settlement is now threatened by the Eurozone debt crisis and official responses to it, most notably the proposed fiscal compact. A prevalent view regards the crisis as an opportunity to complete the process of political and economic union that the Maastricht Treaty began. However, this article cautions against such a view, which would jettison the post-Lisbon Treaty constitutional settlement in favour a peculiar kind of German-led, intergovernmen- tal centralisation. Whether the crisis response measures achieve their stated aims remains to be seen, but the integration project will be reconfigured in the process. Thus, EU constitutionalism is bound to remain in a state of flux.
JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, May 2012
The Constitutional Treaty's attempt to turn the peoples of Europe into a much more coherent citiz... more The Constitutional Treaty's attempt to turn the peoples of Europe into a much more coherent citizenry, bound together by a common identity, was not successful. Moreover, its failure greatly damaged the federalist cause. Member States retain significant power to constrain supranational agendas in the post-Lisbon Treaty European Union.
The European Union has long sought to bolster its resonance with the peoples of Europe. Particula... more The European Union has long sought to bolster its resonance with the peoples of Europe. Particularly over the last twenty years, major institutional and policy reforms have been accompanied by attempts to mould a united European citizenry. Constitutional patriotism has been seized upon by many in the EU as a potential identity building mechanism in an entity that is neither a state nor a nation. However, the attempt to take the doctrine out of its original context (post-war West Germany) has not succeeded, as the history of the failed Constitutional Treaty attests. The jurisprudence of the German Constitutional Court shows that constitutional patriotism can be deployed in support of the identity and values of the democratic state. Yet, this only reinforces the doctrine’s limitations at the supranational level, as the prospects of closer political union are circumscribed by the constitutional boundaries drawn by member states.
Books by Nicole Scicluna
Routledge, 2015
Several years after the first Greek bailout, the integration project of the European Union faces ... more Several years after the first Greek bailout, the integration project of the European Union faces an interlocking set of political, economic, legal and social challenges that go to the very core of its existence. Austerity is the order of the day, and citizens in both debtor and creditor states increasingly turn to the political movements of the far left and right, anti-politics and street protests to vent their frustration.
This book demonstrates the limits of constitutionalism in the EU. It explores the ‘twin crises’ - the failure of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005 and the more recent Eurozone crisis - to illuminate both the possibilities and pitfalls of the integration project. It argues that European integration overburdened law in an attempt to overcome deep-seated political deficiencies. It further contends that the EU shifted from an unsuccessful attempt at democratisation via politicisation (the Constitutional Treaty), to an unintended politicisation without democratisation (the Eurozone crisis) only a few years later. The book makes the case that this course is unsustainable and threatens the goal of European unity.
This text will be of key interest to students and scholars in the fields of EU studies, EU law, democracy studies, constitutional studies and international relations.
Existing individual EU member states do hold a veto over new states joining. Assuming an applican... more Existing individual EU member states do hold a veto over new states joining. Assuming an applicant state meets the onerous eligibility requirements; accession must still be unanimously approved by the Council of the EU and ratified by each national parliament.
The euro crisis started in Greece and to Greece it returned. Since the Syriza government’s electi... more The euro crisis started in Greece and to Greece it returned. Since the Syriza government’s election in January 2015, we have seen a succession of intense and sometimes acrimonious exchanges between Greek officials and representatives of the IMF, EU and member state governments, which culminated on the last weekend of June in bank closures and the announcement of a referendum on the terms of an expired bailout. These bizarre events demonstrate the extent to which the Greek crisis is a symptom of a broader EU constitutional malaise.
The Greek crisis is a symptom of the EU's underlying constitutional crisis. The union has failed ... more The Greek crisis is a symptom of the EU's underlying constitutional crisis. The union has failed to strike the right balance between democracy and technocratic governance. It has failed to balance the needs of citizens and states in a highly diverse supranational polity.
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Papers by Nicole Scicluna
This article uses the Greek crisis to analyse the EU’s democratic deficit, and the related issue of the locus of legal and political sovereignty in the EU. It argues that the EU’s constitutional framework is not sufficiently responsive to changing material conditions or to the changing preferences of Europeans. Thus, EU constitutionalism needs to be refashioned in order to strike a better balance between democratic and technocratic governance, as well as between the needs of individual citizens, national citizenries, and states.
On the anniversary of sixty years of the Rome Treaties, this Special Issue aims to reflect on the paradigms for EU law looking beyond their competing accounts of EU integration. The analysis is developed through a series of contributions that challenge the paradigms in different directions. The discussion is articulated on two levels. On the one hand, a group of contributions focuses on the historical and legal analysis of the emergence and transformation of the EU legal order. These contributions delve deeper into the absence of a European identity and go beyond the inherent critique that the EU is a demoi-cracy that struggles with a democratic disconnect or even deficit. On the other hand, other contributions debate paradigms and their implementation in important policy domains. These contributions aim to give a more practical perspective on the constitutional and/or administrative character of the European Union, showing its implications and concrete questions.
Books by Nicole Scicluna
This book demonstrates the limits of constitutionalism in the EU. It explores the ‘twin crises’ - the failure of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005 and the more recent Eurozone crisis - to illuminate both the possibilities and pitfalls of the integration project. It argues that European integration overburdened law in an attempt to overcome deep-seated political deficiencies. It further contends that the EU shifted from an unsuccessful attempt at democratisation via politicisation (the Constitutional Treaty), to an unintended politicisation without democratisation (the Eurozone crisis) only a few years later. The book makes the case that this course is unsustainable and threatens the goal of European unity.
This text will be of key interest to students and scholars in the fields of EU studies, EU law, democracy studies, constitutional studies and international relations.
Commentaries by Nicole Scicluna
This article uses the Greek crisis to analyse the EU’s democratic deficit, and the related issue of the locus of legal and political sovereignty in the EU. It argues that the EU’s constitutional framework is not sufficiently responsive to changing material conditions or to the changing preferences of Europeans. Thus, EU constitutionalism needs to be refashioned in order to strike a better balance between democratic and technocratic governance, as well as between the needs of individual citizens, national citizenries, and states.
On the anniversary of sixty years of the Rome Treaties, this Special Issue aims to reflect on the paradigms for EU law looking beyond their competing accounts of EU integration. The analysis is developed through a series of contributions that challenge the paradigms in different directions. The discussion is articulated on two levels. On the one hand, a group of contributions focuses on the historical and legal analysis of the emergence and transformation of the EU legal order. These contributions delve deeper into the absence of a European identity and go beyond the inherent critique that the EU is a demoi-cracy that struggles with a democratic disconnect or even deficit. On the other hand, other contributions debate paradigms and their implementation in important policy domains. These contributions aim to give a more practical perspective on the constitutional and/or administrative character of the European Union, showing its implications and concrete questions.
This book demonstrates the limits of constitutionalism in the EU. It explores the ‘twin crises’ - the failure of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005 and the more recent Eurozone crisis - to illuminate both the possibilities and pitfalls of the integration project. It argues that European integration overburdened law in an attempt to overcome deep-seated political deficiencies. It further contends that the EU shifted from an unsuccessful attempt at democratisation via politicisation (the Constitutional Treaty), to an unintended politicisation without democratisation (the Eurozone crisis) only a few years later. The book makes the case that this course is unsustainable and threatens the goal of European unity.
This text will be of key interest to students and scholars in the fields of EU studies, EU law, democracy studies, constitutional studies and international relations.