The aim of this publication is an analysis of the process of European constitutionalisation and its entanglement with relevant national discourses. Thus, national constitutional traditions in Austria, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are evaluated with regard to the positions of the respective national representatives in the European Convention. Interviews with Members of National Parliaments and of the European Parliament as well as a content analysis of the debate on the future of Europe in print media form the empirical basis of this study.

Vorwort
Der Weg zu einer europäischen Verfassung - Neueste Forschungen zur EU

Autorentext
Professor Dr. Sonja Puntscher Riekmann is professor for Political Theory and European Integration at the University of Salzburg and Director of the Institute for European Integration Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Wessels has the Jean Monnet Chair, Research Institute for Political Science and European Affairs at the University of Cologne.

Inhalt
European Constitutionalism at the Crossroads.- European Constitutionalism at the Crossroads.- The Making of a European Constitution: Processes and Methods.- The Constitutionalisation of the European Union Without the Constitutional Treaty.- Getting to a European Constitution: From Fischer to the IGC.- The Convention Method: An Institutional Device for Consensus-building.- Deliberation and Compromise in the Shadow of Bargaining.- The Dynamics of the Two-Level Process of Constitution Building.- The Making of a European Constitution: Influences and Perceptions.- The Impact of Constitutional Traditions on the EU-Reform Discourse in Austria, France, Germany and the UK.- Political Elites and the Future of Europe: The Views of MPs and MEPs.- Publicized Discourses on the Post-Nice Process.- The Ratification of the Constitution and the European Public Sphere.