Constitutional evolution in Central and Eastern Europe : expansion and integration in the EU / edited by Kyriaki Topidi and Alexander H.E. Morawa.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue : constitutional transition in central and eastern Europe / Kyriaki Topidi and Alexander H.E. Morawa -- Estonia as an EU member state: lack of pro-active constitutional dialogue / Tanel Kerikmaë -- The constitutionalization of EU law in Romanian jurisprudence / Simina Tan̆as̆escu -- Fundamental rights in the EU's post-enlargement landscape : an exercise in constitutional translation? / Kyriaki Topidi -- Constitutional pluralism and judicial cooperation in the EU after the eastern enlargements : a case study of the Czech and Slovak courts / Tomaś ̌Dubrovsky ́-- The constitutional versus the European role of the judiciary in Poland / Piotr Mikuli -- Structural inconveniences of the Treaty of Lisbon in the Czech Republic / Jiri Zemanek -- Kafka, Kelsen and supremacy: how European courts could interact with a view to fostering constitutionalism / Alexander H.E. Morawa -- Raising the standard? : the current challenges of human rights protection in Hungary / Bernadette Somody -- Constitutionalization and the media in post-enlargement central and eastern Europe / Katrin Nyman-Metcalf -- The rule of law and the rise of populism : a case study of post-accession Bulgaria / Daniel Smilov.

This book examines EU enlargement by studying how domestic constitutional evolution in the new member states contributes to European integration. In contrast to the usual top-down analytical pattern, it reverses the paradigm by looking at constitutional developments and dynamics from the bottom-up, studying how domestic constitutional evolution contributes to European integration. The authors analyze constitutional trends from the perspective of 'new Member States' as policy-makers and not strictly as policy-takers. The issue of conditionality is also explored in a discussion of the extent to which pre-2004 and 2007 conditionality has had lasting effects at the level of constitutionalization of different areas and norms and if so, of what kind. The exploration of Europeanization effects in recent Member States substantiates and demonstrates how enlargement has been an important driving-force for the effective export of EU legal rules in this region. The book utilizes a comparative approach to highlight the merits and obstacles created by the growing diversity in the constitutional rules and patterns of the new Member States. It also contains a section that places the CEE constitutionalizing map in a broader comparative European and global context, establishing links with similar transitional regimes in the continent and elsewhere.