A series of EU accession referendums were held in nine candidate countries, eight post-communist states and Malta, between March and September 2003. These referendums provide us with an excellent comparative opportunity to deepen our understanding of the European integration issue and how it interacts with domestic politics, and of the dynamics of referendums in general and referendums on the European issue in particular. This book therefore provides a set of focused comparisons between these different cases. Each of the individual chapters provides an authoritative analysis of the referendum campaign and outcome in each of the countries concerned by a leading specialist on the politics of that country. This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal West European Politics.

This handbook provides an empirically rich analysis of referendums in Europe from the end of the Second World War to the present. It addresses a range of perennial theoretical and legal questions that face policy-makers when they offer citizens the chance to take or influence decisions by referendum, not least whether to accept the ‘will of the people’. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on historical, philosophical and political science perspectives, the book includes a contextual section on the history of referendums, the theoretical questions underpinning their use, and on constitutional and legal questions about the use of referendums. The empirical sections are divided into those referendums that focus on domestic issues, such as constitutional matters or questions of social policy, and those related to the European Union, including membership referendums and treaty ratification.

Recoge: Part 1: Political representation in the European Union - Part 2:Political support for the European Union.

The development of EU enlargement has raised many thorny issues unanticipated by the framers of the EC Treaty. A significant upshot of these issues is that the concept of European identity – defined in terms of such factors as culture, history and economics – has supplanted the long-dominant theme of ‘widening and deepening,’ particularly since the Union’s expansion has become primarily eastward. The major contribution of this important book lies in its analysis of the conceptualization and perception of enlargement from various points of view, focusing on the concerns of stakeholders and the ‘identity’ conflicts and uncertainties incurred by enlargement initiatives. In the course of its presentation, it details the actual pre-accession Europeanization process and its complex history. Among the key elements discussed are the following: the conflict between ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ and the effect on EU institutional reform; institutional requirements on candidate countries; pre-accession criteria and negotiations; administrative capacity, judicial capacity, and legal approximation in accession states; capacity of the EU to absorb new Member States; and EC law as part of European identity. Also covered are specific historical details of particular pre-accession negotiations (e.g., Greece, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and Cyprus), the still inconclusive negotiations with Turkey and the Western Balkan states, and political factors involved in the non-accession of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Assembling powerful evidence and applying incisive analysis, the author’s conclusion shows that, absent further (and major) EU institutional reform, it will be difficult for an enlarging Union to continue to ‘deliver the goods.’ A watershed in the continuing great debate on the fulfilment of the EC Treaty’s determination to foster and promote ‘an ever closer union of the peoples of Europe,’ this book will prove invaluable to anybody interested in the European integration project, particularly lawyers, academics, officials and policymakers in the EU Member States.

In the wake of the EU's biggest enlargement, this book explores the adaptation of the constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for membership in the European Union. In response to the painful past, these new constitutions were notably closed to transfer of powers to international organizations, and accorded a prominent status to sovereignty and independence. A little more than a decade later, the process of amending these provisions in view of the transfer of sovereign powers to a supranational organization has proved a sensitive and controversial exercise. This book analyses the amendments against the background of comparative experience and theory of sovereignty, as well as the context of political sensitivities, such as rising euroscepticism ahead of accession referendums.

A comprehensive and comparative treatment of the EU referendum experience based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines law and politics.

In order to assess the impact of referendums on European integration, this study offers a comparative analysis of referendums that have occurred so far. It then draws on comparative data to analyze the consequences of referendums.