Spreading democracy and the rule of law? : the impact of EU enlargement on the rule of law, democracy and constitutionalism in post-communist legal orders

The accession of eight post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (and also of Malta and Cyprus) to the European Union in 2004 has been heralded as perhaps the most important development in the history of European integration so far. While the impact of the enlargement on the constitutional structures and practices of the EU has already generated a rich scholarly literature, the influence of the accession on constitutionalism, democracy, human rights and the rule of law among the new member states has been largely ignored. This book fills this gap, and addresses the question of the consequences of the external force of European enlargement upon the understanding and practice of democracy and the rule of law and among both the main legal-political actors and the general public in the new member-states. A number of leading legal scholars, sociologists and political scientists, both from Central and Eastern Europe and from outside, address these issues in a systematic and critical way. Taken together, these essays help answer a fundamental question: does the European Union have the potential of promoting and consolidate democracy and human rights? Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction....Pages 1-24 Front Matter....Pages 25-25 EU Enlargement and Democracy in New Member States....Pages 27-49 The Eastern EU Enlargement and the Janus-headed Nature of the Constitutional Treaty....Pages 51-71 A Problem of their Own, Solutions of their Own: CEE Jurisdictions and the Problems of Lustration and Retroactivity....Pages 73-96 Citizens and Foreigners in the Enlarged Europe....Pages 97-119 Sub-National Governance in Central and Eastern Europe: Between Transition and Europeanization....Pages 121-147 The Copenhagen Criteria and the Evolution of Popular Consent to EU Norms: From Legality to Normative Justifiability in Poland and the Czech Republic....Pages 149-171 Front Matter....Pages 173-173 Becoming “Europeans”: The Impact of EU “Constitutionalism” on Post-Communist Pre-Modernity....Pages 175-192 Happy Returns to Europe? The Union’s Identity, Constitution-Making, and its Impact on the Central European Accession States....Pages 193-218 An Evolutionary Approach to the Constitutionalism of an Enlarged EU: Why will Cognitive and Cultural Boundaries Matter?....Pages 219-235 Constitutional Tolerance and EU Enlargement: The Politics of Dissent?....Pages 237-261 Europeanization Through Judicial Activism? The Hungarian Constitutional Court’s Legitimacy and the “Return to Europe”....Pages 263-280 Front Matter....Pages 281-281 Barbarians ante portas or the Post-Communist Rule of Law in Post-Democratic European Union....Pages 283-297 Transformation and Integration of Legal Cultures and Discourses—Poland....Pages 299-311 EU Enlargement and the Constitutional Principle of Judicial Independence....Pages 313-334 Post-Communist Legal Orders and the Roma: Some Implications for EU Enlargement....Pages 335-356 A Europe of Variable Geometry: Still a Winning Model?....Pages 357-378 Front Matter....Pages 379-379 Conclusions: The Adhesion of New Member States to the European Union and the European Constitution....Pages 381-390