Stuart, Gisela --- "Preface: The European Union and the Rule of Law" [2012] ELECD 506; in Trybus, Martin; Rubini, Luca (eds), "The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy

Editor(s): Trybus, Martin; Rubini, Luca

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857932556

Section Title: Preface: The European Union and the Rule of Law

Author(s): Stuart, Gisela

Number of pages: 2

Extract:

Preface: The European Union and the
Rule of Law
Gisela Stuart

Wittgenstein thought that the `aim of philosophy is to show the fly the way
out of the fly-bottle'. The Lisbon Treaty and its precursor, the Constitu-
tional Treaty, was to make the European Union more effective, accountable
and transparent, as well as bringing it closer to the people. After years
teaching EU law, attending Council of Ministers' meetings and having been
one of the 13 people who drafted the Constitutional Treaty ­ I, just like
Wittgenstein's fly ­ am still in need of help. Trying to understand the
entirety and complexity of the workings, rules and institutions of what we
call Europe makes getting out of the fly-bottle look like child's play. What's
gone wrong?
For a start don't call it Europe. It is the European Union, or the Union
for short. Europe is a geographic entity which stretches from Ireland in the
west to the Urals in the east. It is a historic entity which certainly includes
the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire, known today as Istanbul.
The Union on the other hand is a post-World War II construct of currently
27 nation states.
With the Lisbon Treaty the Union is said to have given up its ambition
for wider and deeper integration and accepted that it is made up of
sovereign Member States; it has no intentions of moving towards a federal
structure. Lisbon has given greater powers to the ...