engleski

The Future of the Sovereignty Concept in Europe

It has been over 50 years since the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) were established on 1 January 1958. By the time the organization has expanded from the six founding states to 27 current members of the European Union. This process of economic and political integration is without precedent in the history of mankind and represents a great challenge of the sovereignty theory. The sovereignty concept as a relevant feature of the state authority (supreme towards inside and independent towards outside) had been generally accepted until recently. Today the bare existence of sovereign states in Europe is in question in terms of the given definition. Regarding the members of the European Union, changes in sovereignty are found to be significant by many. The member states have transferred a great share of their competencies to the European Union by means of founding treaties, so they cannot freely regulate a wide variety of issues which used to be under exclusive jurisdiction of the states. Although state territories have been precisely determined, border crossings have disappeared from the internal borders of the European Union and the notion of the European citizenship has been created. Being one of the fundamental factors of integration, a single European legal order has been established. This paper researches contemporary legal theories which discuss sovereignty in accordance with new development trends and is aimed at dealing with the issue of the future of the sovereignty concept. Some authors share an opinion that Europe has entered the period of post-sovereignty (Neil MacCormick). The notion of sovereignty has to be rejected since it does not reflect the new social reality and throughout the history it has done more damage than brought benefits. However, rejecting the sovereignty concept means neglecting its central role in legal and political science as well as in political debates. The sovereignty concept should not be rejected but it should be transformed in order to be adjusted to new challenges. The idea of constitutional pluralism is becoming more present in discussions. Pursuant to the theory of constitutional pluralism, states are not the only sites where sovereignty is to be found. The relationship between states and non-states should be heterarchical and not hierarchical (Neil Walker). Contemporary circumstances require leaving unique and absolute sovereignty. Sovereignty does not represent a zero sum game. Constitutional pluralism emphasizes the importance of dialog and adjustment between various constitutional authorities.

sovereignty; legal theory; supremacy; EC law

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