ABSTRACT

This book offers insights into the legal mechanisms that are adopted in multilevel constitutional orders to accommodate the tension between contrasting interests of diversity and unity and the converging or diverging effects they may have on the functioning of a multilevel constitutional order. It does so by targeting mainly the European experience but also drawing insights from other jurisdictions.

The volume draws on a well-rounded theoretical framework that allows a comprehensive discussion of the dialectics in multi-level systems.) It focuses on two of the most relevant areas of constitutional law, namely the setup of supranational institutions and the protection of fundamental human rights. Finally, the work presents a fresh legal take on the unity-diversity dichotomy.

This collection is ideal for academics working in the fields of constitutional law, international law, federal theory, institutional design, management and accommodation of diversity, and protection of fundamental rights. Political scientists will also find the discussions very relevant as a foundation for further research in their field. Policymakers involved in constitutional engineering will be interested, as mechanisms of accommodation, convergence, and divergence are increasingly looked at as devices for managing multilevel polities.

chapter 1|13 pages

Introduction

The Dialectics in Multilevel Systems – Mechanisms of Divergence and Convergence

chapter 3|12 pages

Non-Hierarchical Coordination of Multi-Level Asymmetries for (Dynamic) Stability

Finding the Balance Between Convergence and Divergence

chapter 4|23 pages

Constitutional Diversity and Differentiation in the EU

What Role for National Constitutional Demands under EU law?

chapter 5|21 pages

Between Unity and Diversity

EU Data Protection Legislation as a Catalyst for a Constitutional Trilogue

chapter 6|21 pages

Forgetting Identity Claims

The New Constitutional Paradigm in Multilevel Fundamental Rights Standards

chapter 7|20 pages

Convergence and Divergence in EU External Action

The Very Slowly Emergent Doctrine of Shared Competence 1

chapter 9|22 pages

Towards a General Typology of Consensus Analysis

From Entrenching Divergence to Constituting Convergence

chapter 10|23 pages

Convergence, Divergence, and Strategic Interactions of International Courts

Lessons From the Protection of Business Premises for Legal Persons in Europe

chapter 12|15 pages

Multilevel Governance in the EU Through Deliberative Democracy

Zooming into the Mechanism of the European Citizens' Initiative

chapter 13|17 pages

EU law's Contribution in Streamlining Member State Enforcement Structures

A Promising Mechanism for Convergence?

chapter 14|8 pages

Conclusion

Oscillating Between Unity and Diversity