Constitutional Mutation and Bankruptcy? of the European Union

Abstract

The manifold and overlapping crises of the European Union call for a systematic analysis from the perspective of constitutional law. In this article the reader is provided with a legal-dogmatic analysis of the punctual decisions and structural reforms that have been taken to contain and overcome the economic, financial, fiscal, macroeconomic and political crises; an elucidation of the resulting constitutional transformation of European Union law; and a normative assessment of the implications that the resulting constitutional mutation has, very especially with respect to the integrity of the regulatory ideal of the Social and Democratic Rechtsstaat. The main thesis of the article is that the ongoing constitutional mutation constitutes a direct threat to democratic constitutionalism in Europe. Either the constitutional changes are halted and reversed, or democratic politics is bound to become an empty shell.