The Polish discourse about the European Constitution has one feature in common with the discourses of other member states: it deals with everything but the text of the Constitution Treaty itself. At its core it oscillates between the Polish striving for power in the EU and the toleration for cultural difference in Europe. The opposite of the latter has been particularly significant during the referendum debates in France and the Netherlands, which let to the rejection of the constitutional treaty.

The authors argue that the public opinion and the discourse of political elites differ significantly within the Franco-German debate on the Constitutional Treaty of the EU. Moreover, the article shows that the discussion reflects different conceptions of European politics. These differences lead to the claim that the co-operation and the leading role of Germany and France in the EU have to be re-defined. This has to occur in the context of a politicisation of European politics, which is crucial for the future of the enlarged European Union.

Univ., Diss.--Münster, 2005. / Literaturverz. S. [383] - 393. Mit engl. Zsfassung.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2005.

Diese Anfang 2006 fertiggestellte, nunmehr postum veröffentlichte Publikation untersucht und bewertet detailliert die Positionen zum Vertrag über eine Verfassung für Europa jener Parteien, die im Europäischen Parlament der "Konföderalen Fraktion der Vereinten Europäischen Linken/Nordische Grüne Linke" (GUE/NGL) angehören. Die Debatte zum europäischen Verfassungsvertrag zwang alle linken Parteien in einer erstmalig geführten transnationalen Debatte, ihre Haltung zur EU-Mitgliedschaft des eigenen Landes, ihre Position zum Verfassungsvertrag als solchem sowie ihre generelle Bereitschaft zu verdeutlichen, einem „anderen“ oder „besseren“ Vertrag zuzustimmen. Die Arbeit zeigt eine sehr hohe Fragmentierung der Haltung der linken Parteien zum Verfassungsvertrag und zur Mitgliedschaft ihrer Länder in der EU. / This at the beginning of 2006 finished, now posthumously published publication examines and evaluates in detail the positions of the parties that belong to the European Parliament of the "Confederal Group of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left" (GUE / NGL) about the European constitutional treaty. The respective debate forced them in a transnational debate to define their positions on the EU membership of their country, their position on the Constitutional treaty as such, as well as their overall readiness for agreeing with an "other" or "better" treaty. The work shows a very high level of fragmentation of the attitude of the left parties on the constitutional treaty and the EU membership of their countries.

The author discusses the failure of the EU-Constitution plebiscite in France and focuses on the different arguments brought forward in the French debate over the EU-Constitution. The draft of the Convent was a complex volume full of compromises. However, in comparison with the Treaty of Nice, it would have been a starting point for achieving a direct trans-national democracy. According to the author, the referendum only failed due to some unique plebiscite elements that were instrumentalised by governments which had overestimated themselves.

Univ., Diss.--Potsdam, 2005. / Literaturverz. S. 225 - 238.