Negotiating the future of europe - an analysis of the convention's procedural arrangements: Magisterarbeit

Master's Thesis from the year 2002 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: B+ (12 von 15 Punkten), University of Sussex, language: English, abstract: The dissertation will focus on the Convention on the Future of Europe which

was launched in March 2002 and which is operating the task to prepare the

next Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) in 2004. Main issues on the

Convention"s working plan are a draft constitution and the preparation of EU

institutions for the enlargement.

Given that the Convention has started its work in March 2002 and will

approximately end in Spring / Summer 2003, its work is still in progress. That

is why it would be difficult to write on the outcome and either predict or judge

its success. That is why the focus lies on the procedural arrangements within

the Convention Method and explicitly not on its content. Therefore the

dissertation will deal, in general, with the negotiation process. In detail, the

focus will examine the Convention"s kind of procedural arrangements, the

operative mode and the working method or in short: the Convention Method

and its difference compared with former IGCs and their preparing groups.

Thus, the dissertation"s main part is build on four parts: The first chapter will set up a definition for an IGC while considering various perspective from legal over formal via practical to theoretical. Then, the second chapter will

introduce the history and the task of IGCs and their preparing groups by

looking at the setting, procedural arrangements and the mandate, whilst in

the third chapter, both conventions, the Convention on the Charter of

Fundamental Rights and the Convention on the Future of Europe in the

scope of the IGC 2004 will be studied. Then in the final fourth chapter, the

key question of "What makes the difference?" will be discussed. Further key

questions that fall into the scope of the negotiation process touches to what

extend the kind of negotiation process influence the outcome, the

harmonization of actors" position as well as actors" behaviour.