Constitutional Problems of the European Union (Hardcover)

In twenty years, there could be a European Federation, a United States of Europe, of which Britain would be a part, with Brussels as the capital. There will be a President of Europe and a European Government; the European Parliament will make laws and the European Court will give rulings. Britain will be a province of Europe, as it was in Roman times long ago. It is therefore vital to understand the nature and characteristics of the EU, to know what sort of entity it is.

The purpose of this book is to contribute towards such an understanding by scrutinizing the Union from the constitutional and legal angle. It looks, for instance, at whether the European Court behaves as a court ought to behave; at the problems caused by the vague and elastic nature of Community law; at whether the division of power between the Union and the Member States is based on any sort of principle, and, if so, whether that principle is consistently applied; at me enforcement of Community law and the problems caused by the different levels of compliance in different Member States; and, finally, at the issue of whether Member States have ceded their sovereignty. These issues raise questions which we must ask, and try to answer.

This book will be of interest not only to experts in Community law, but to all lawyers -- indeed, to non-lawyers as well -- who want to understand the Community. To make this possible, an introductory chapter has been added to provide the necessary background.