Confederal Consociation and the Future of the European Union

This paper represents therefore a contribution to the ‘future of Europe’ debate. It consists of two parts: Part 1 presents the current political landscape in the European Union following the signing of the Nice Treaty and the negative vote in the Irish ratification referendum; Part 2 considers the current debate over the finalite politique of the Union which was launched in May 2000 by the German foreign minister Joschka Fisher.