Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo

Sommario

1. Una costituzione: in che senso? – 2. (a) La “natura” della costituzione: fatto o norma? – 3. (b) L’“essenza” della costituzione: norme o atto normativo? (implicazioni delle nozioni sostanziale e formale di costituzione: in particolare, la questione della legittimazione-fondazione dell’atto costituente). – 4. (c) La funzione e lo spirito della costituzione (cinque modelli essenziali). – 5. (d) L’oggetto della costituzione: lo Stato o anche altro? – 6. Una costituzione per l’Europa: in che senso? – 7. Ci sono già elementi di una costituzione europea? – 8. Che cosa manca per una costituzione europea? (a) La mancanza del potere di revisione costituzionale. – 9. (segue) (b) Il carattere non strutturalmente unitario delle istituzioni europee. – 10. Come, e perché, una costituzione europea?

Abstract

This article investigates the contemporary debate about an European Constitution. Provided that the idea of “constitution” is rich in meanings and implications, the author tries to analyse its different aspects, in order to verify its feasibility in the European order and its possible developments. The article is divided into two parts. The first one deals with the fundamental varieties of the notion of constitution (meant as an operational structure or a juridical discipline of the political order; as a whole of fundamental rules or as an act fixing them, with particular regard to the way of conceiving and funding the “constitutional act”; seen from the point of view of its functions of creation, integration and of axiological definition of the political order and considered as necessarily connected with the notion of State or applicable also to different institutions). The second part of the article is concerned with the possibilities to apply such notions of “constitution” to the European institutions in their present state and perspectives of development. There’s then an analysis of the reasons why European rules can be considered to be already existing on both an organizational and axiological level. Some aspects are highlighted according to which the technicism at the basis of constitutionalism seems to be still alien to the community law. Finally some observations are made about the institutional solutions and elements which seem to be essential for the building up of an European Constitution, with regard to the solidity of its foundations, the uses and advantages legitimating its formation, the frameworks by means of which its balance should be granted.