Can the EU have a constitution?
[4] The question underpinning the pan-European debate is whether the European Union can have a constitution without becoming a state, or whether it will metamorphose into a state if given a constitution. Dorau applies Georg Jellinek’s traditional three-pronged characteristics of a state (Staatsgebiet, Staatsvolk, Staatsgewalt or territory, people and effective government) to the EU. He concludes that while the EU has been given competence in most areas its jurisdiction is not general but “thematically limited” (at 34), and also contingent on the legal authority of the Member states (at 35). Therefore, even though the EU has certain state-like characteristics, so long as the EU does not possess the competence to give itself competence it is not a sovereign state in the received sense. But does that automatically mean it cannot have a constitution? [5] The historical link between state and constitution is often readily acceptedtoo readily, as Dorau contends. Dorau disentangles the two co
