Constituţionalismul în Uniunea Europeană: provocări şi perspective [Articol]

Abstract

In the last period, we have witnessed in the European Union some trends that we can identify as worrying, of erosion of the concept of con- stitutionalism which represents, in a broad sense, a set of norms and principles that advance the idea that authority, as an act of governance, derives from their observance. This crisis reveals that agreements between the governments of the member states, and the supranational political and legal institutions of the European Union are insufficient to maintain unity and make decisions con- cerning priorities. In other words, the political and legal sustainability of the European Union requires a certain methodological support that could contri- bute essentially to the construction, interpretation, and coherent evaluation of the theoretical and practical problems of the political and legal reality of the European Union which is more than an international organization or a con- federation of states, without having become a federal entity. The legitimacy of constitutionalism as a theory of political action increases the gap between the important political decision-makers in the European Union and the legi- timate, objective interests of the member states. This paper aims to analyse three main themes: the challenges to constitutionalism that the states of the European Union have been facing in recent times; opportunities and strate- gies to combat the erosion of democratic constitutionalism; and the future of constitutionalism in the European Union. The research results reveal that the apparent inability of the European institutions to strengthen the rule of law and the democratic legitimacy of the Union can only be overcome through an innovative perspective of reforming the EU treaties and a firm political com- mitment to promote solidarity and mutual respect between the Member States.