Towards a « Europe puissance » or just intergovernmental cosmetics

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From the beginnings of the European integration process, the reinforcement of the part of Europe as a world actor has been a recurring expression : the dispositions of the Constitution Treaty on CFSP thus mark a constitutional cornerstone. It is then relevant to proceed to a debate in order to determine whether this text is a constitutional leap, and to what extent, or whether it is another version of a still more refined intergovernmentalism, that would limit the European Union’s capacity to play an effective and efficient part as a power in the international system. The analysis of the constitutional architecture and of the Constitutional Treaty allows shedding light on a discrepancy between ambitious aims and limited capacities. As regards the dispositions concerning the procedures and institutions, in spite of a certain number of innovations (creation of a European minister of Foreign Affairs…), they remain relative and leave a good number of questions unanswered. – Summary AFRI-2005