The Competence Question in the (Con)Federal European Union
Published on 18. November 2025
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-0-19-887076-0 (ISBN)
Description
The Competence Question in the (Con)Federal European Union provides a uniquely holistic understanding of the EU as a contested authority-construction, the legal concepts and political factors that make it (d)evolve, and the normative stakes at hand.
The book analyses the source, force, and extent of the EU's powers from the EEC Treaty until today, demonstrating how ongoing constitutional negotiations between Member States, the Court of Justice, political institutions, and national courts have unsettled the EU legal order in both functional and foundational terms. In doing so, it offers new insights into the functioning and malfunctioning of the EU legal order from a constitutional and democratic perspective.
Drawing on historical examples to illustrate the distinction between compound systems of conferred powers (confederations) and those whose powers have been constitutionally established (federations), the book exposes a confederal conundrum. The EU's powers are conferred by its Member States (as in a confederation), but are given federal effect and have virtually unlimited material scope (competence creep). This, the book argues, can be democratically and constitutionally problematic.
Pinpointing the crucial legitimacy problem that underlies EU authority-construction, the book offers students and academics an accessible yet rigorous account of the current state of EU law. It is an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand the dynamic process of European integration and its constitutional implications.
The book analyses the source, force, and extent of the EU's powers from the EEC Treaty until today, demonstrating how ongoing constitutional negotiations between Member States, the Court of Justice, political institutions, and national courts have unsettled the EU legal order in both functional and foundational terms. In doing so, it offers new insights into the functioning and malfunctioning of the EU legal order from a constitutional and democratic perspective.
Drawing on historical examples to illustrate the distinction between compound systems of conferred powers (confederations) and those whose powers have been constitutionally established (federations), the book exposes a confederal conundrum. The EU's powers are conferred by its Member States (as in a confederation), but are given federal effect and have virtually unlimited material scope (competence creep). This, the book argues, can be democratically and constitutionally problematic.
Pinpointing the crucial legitimacy problem that underlies EU authority-construction, the book offers students and academics an accessible yet rigorous account of the current state of EU law. It is an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand the dynamic process of European integration and its constitutional implications.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 221 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
771 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-887076-0 (9780198870760)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sacha Garben is Professor of EU Law at the Legal Studies Department of the College of Europe. She is an official in the European Commission, currently on leave to work at the College of Europe full time. She is also a replacement Judge at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. Sacha Garben obtained her PhD at the European University Institute in 2010, winning the Jacqueline Suter Prize for the Best Doctoral Thesis in European Law 20092011. She has worked at the Court of Justice of the European Union and at the London School of Economics.
Content
1: The Competence Question in the (Con)Federal European Union
2: From Rome to Maastricht: The Displacement of Conferral, the Creeping of Competence, and the 'Constitutionalisation' of Community Law
3: Renegotiating Competence, Conferral, and 'Constitutionalisation' in the Maastricht Decade
4: From the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe to the Lisbon Treaty: The Fumbled Attempt to Overcome Conferral and the Continuation of 'Constitutionalisation by Stealth'
5: From the Lisbon Treaty to Brexit: Competence, Conferral, and 'Constitutionalisation' in Crisis
6: The Post-Brexit EU Legal Order: Constitutional Reorientation and Democratic Re-Imagination in the Face of Identity Struggles
7: Uncertainty, Unsettlement, and the Way to Reach a Conclusion on the Competence Question in the (Con)Federal European Union
2: From Rome to Maastricht: The Displacement of Conferral, the Creeping of Competence, and the 'Constitutionalisation' of Community Law
3: Renegotiating Competence, Conferral, and 'Constitutionalisation' in the Maastricht Decade
4: From the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe to the Lisbon Treaty: The Fumbled Attempt to Overcome Conferral and the Continuation of 'Constitutionalisation by Stealth'
5: From the Lisbon Treaty to Brexit: Competence, Conferral, and 'Constitutionalisation' in Crisis
6: The Post-Brexit EU Legal Order: Constitutional Reorientation and Democratic Re-Imagination in the Face of Identity Struggles
7: Uncertainty, Unsettlement, and the Way to Reach a Conclusion on the Competence Question in the (Con)Federal European Union