Reading Group

                                       DACPVP03, autumn 2022


                                           Introduction

                            J. H. H. Weiler: The Constitution of Europe


Questions for our first discussion:


1.       What are the most important constitutional moments of the Czech Republic, in your opinion?


2.       Weiler lists a couple of candidates for the constitutional moments of the European Union.
Are you familiar with these historical events? If not, which one is not clear for you?


3.       Why does Weiler choose the Maastricht Treaty as the most important constitutional moment?


4.       What makes something a constitution? Does the European Union have a constitution?


5.       On p. 4, Weiler speaks of ‘a veritable revolution’ – what does he mean?


6.       Do you understand the Exodus metaphor? Do you like it?


7.       Does the EU have its ‘people’?


8.       What is Weiler’s opinion about textualism, in your opinion?


9.       What is Weiler’s ‘translation’ of ‘We will do, and hearken’ into modern language?


10.   How do you understand the following long sentence?


‘But the result is not … a European legal order of constitutionalism without a formal constitution,
but the opposite: it is a constitutional legal order the constitutional theory of which has not
been worked out, its long-term, transcendent values not sufficiently elaborated, its ontological
elements misunderstood, its social rootedness and legitimacy highly contingent.’ (p. 8)