Towards a European Constitution? The European Parliament and the Institutional Reform of the European Communities 1979-84

Drawing on archival sources of the European Parliament (EP), the EP Groups, and Spinelli’s private papers as well as contemporary media reports and 13 semi-structured interviews with eyewitnesses, this article examines the EP’s attempt to foster European union after its first direct election in 1979. In tracing the conflicts and compromises within the EP during the preparation of its Draft Treaty on European Union (DTEU) the article makes a three-fold argument. First, it demonstrates how this internal process enhanced cross-party cooperation on institutional reform in the EP. Second, it shows how the EP’s work on institutional reform impacted the inter-institutional dynamics with the European Commission and the European Council. Third, it elaborates how the DTEU, although not ratified, nevertheless constituted an important constitutional marker with long-term effects on European integration until the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.