CfP: The Constitutionalization of European Budgetary Constraints: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspective

Venue: Tilburg Law School, Tilburg, the Netherlands
Dates: 30/31 May 2013
Organizers: Maurice Adams, Federico Fabbrini, Pierre Larouche

The Treaty on the Stability, Coordination and Governance of the Economic and Monetary Union (generally referred to as the Fiscal Compact) has introduced a detailed obligation that government budgets be balanced and required the 25 members of the European Union (EU) which signed the Fiscal Compact to incorporate this “golden rule” within their state Constitutions. This requirement represents a major and unprecedented development, which raises formidable challenges on the nature and legitimacy of national Constitutions as well as on the future of the European integration project. The purpose of the Conference is to gather an internationally renowned group of scholars to a) analyse the Fiscal Compact: b) examine in a comparative perspective the constitutionalization of a balanced budget rule in 25 EU member states; and c) discuss the constitutional future of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

The Conference will feature the participation of a number of distinguished scholars, including Paul Craig (Professor of Law, St. John’s College, Oxford), Renaud Dehousse (Professor of Law & Political Science, Science Po, Paris), Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Professor of Law, Tilburg Law School and former Minister of Justice of the Netherlands), Peter Lindseth (Professor of Law, Connecticut School of Law), Enzo Moavero Milanesi (Professor of Law and current Minister of EU Affairs of Italy, and former Judge, European Court of Justice), Ingolf Pernice (Professor of Law, Humboldt Universität, Berlin), and Miguel Poiares Maduro (Professor of Law, European University Institute, and former Advocate General, European Court of Justice) all of which have confirmed their presence.

The Organizers invite the submission of paper proposals, in particular on topics like:


- the Euro-crisis & the legal, political, fiscal and monetary measures adopted to address it

- selected national experiences in the incorporation of the Fiscal Compact

- questions of democracy and legitimacy raised by (supra)national budgetary constraints

- (comparative) perspectives on fiscal federalism & the constitutional future of the EMU

Applicants are invited to submit an abstract (max. 250 words) and their CV to federico.fabbrini@gmail.com by 1 March 2013. Selected speakers will be required to submit a draft of their paper by 15 May 2013 and commit to publish their revised essays in a volume edited by the organizers in the immediate aftermath of the Conference with a top international publisher. Selected speakers will receive free meals during the days of the Conference and a subsidy of 150 € to defray the costs of their travel to, and accommodation in, Tilburg, the Netherlands.