European Integration and Limitation of the Power of Constitutional Reform

Abstract

This paper reflects on the changes that occur in the sovereignty of Member States of the European Union as a result of the process of European integration, through the analysis of constituent power limitations. Constituent power is the primary expression of sovereignty in constitutional States and the European integration process is changing some of the traditional profiles of this power. In the context of the European integration process, a fragmentation of constitutional matters occurs and therefore, these matters are not only in national constitutions. This means that constitutional reform cannot be analyzed solely from a national viewpoint. The fragmentation of constitutional matters is also the fragmentation of constituent power, what means fragmentation of Member States sovereignty and implies specific limits on reform. On the other hand, it must be considered along with the limits on reform derived from EU membership, an exercise of an external power of reform in relation with the constitutions of Member States. In summary, we have to take into account the dialectical relationship that is developing among constitutional spaces, which also leads us to consider that the facilitation of reform of fundamental norms is necessary for the effective interaction among constitutional systems.