Institutions, Governance and Constitutionalism

Research on the political and legal design and the policy performance of European institutions has long been at the core of the agenda of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Research.
Past and present research examines issues relevant to the debate on EU institutional and constitutional reform; evolution and experimentation in European governance; development of constitutional rights and values in the European Union; and issues of democracy and citizens’ participation in EU institutions.
A recurrent question of research is the study of tensions between the logic of law and that of politics. 

 

EU Institutional and Constitutional Reform

 
The first pillar of research is EU institutional and constitutional reform, an issue of long-standing interest to the RSCAS. Our research focus continually adjusts to developments in the reform process.
At the moment and in the coming years research will deal with alternative solutions to the EU institutional design reform after the failure of the national ratification processes of the draft Constitution, as well as the substantive content of reform.
The Centre also investigates intentional negotiated change (through Treaty reorganization and revision), as well as endogenous institutional change arising through the development of informal rules and the selection of lower-order rules. In this latter area a project funded by SIEPS deals with 'Interstitial Institutional Change' and investigates institutional change in the European Union which takes place between the highly salient formal treaty revisions. The SIEPOL project (Seclusion and Inclusion in the European Polity: Institutional Change and Democratic Practices)|, directed by Adrienne Héritier and Peter Mair investigates an increasingly widespread yet understudied phenomenon in European politics: the shift of legislative decision-making from public, inclusive to informal, secluded arenas. More specifically, it explores whether, why, how and with which consequences EU legislation is increasingly “fast-tracked” under the co-decision procedure and passed as “early agreements”.

 

Governance

During the past years, the second pillar, that of governance, has focused in particular on new modes of governance in Europe, with the pan-European NEWGOV| FP6 integrated project, which examined the transformation of governance in and beyond Europe by mapping, evaluating and analysing new modes of governance. This project has ended in 2008. A new programme, on Global Governance|, started its activities in 2009.

 

Democracy and citizens’ participation

The third pillar focuses on democracy, particularly on European democracy. Many studies and research projects at the RSCAS in the past have taken up the challenges and opportunities for democracy in Europe, both at the national and regional levels. Moreover, ever closer attention was given to the development of democratic institutions and processes at the EU level. This latter focus has become particularly salient since the 2005 referendums on the Constitutional Treaty, which bolstered the attention of policy makers and academics towards citizens’ participation in EU integration. Under the Seventh Framework Programme the Centre has obtained funding for PIREDEU|, a design study to set up an infrastructure for research on citizenship, political participation, and electoral democracy in the EU. With the creation of the European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO)|, coordinated by Alexander Trechsel, the RSCAS intends to consolidate the scientific knowledge and policy relevant know-how on EU democracy. Furthermore, EUDO actively engages in research, experimentation, and dissemination activities on issues relating to EU democracy. The EUDO Observatory on Citizenship| is co-financed by the European Commission and provides the most comprehensive source of information on acquisition and loss of citizenship in Europe for policy makers, NGOs and academic researchers.