Coping with Flexibility and Legitimacy after Amsterdam

Negotiations on the new Treaty on European Union as ultimately adopted in Amsterdam have been strongly dominated by the prospective enlargement and concern as to the continuing viability of the Union itself. One of the central concepts which the Treaty has put forward to deal with the challenge of increasing diversity in the European Union is the principle of flexibility. The application of flexible options must however be paralleled by the creation of a workable institutional system and the provision of sufficient guarantees for the legitimacy of the Union.

This publication, which reflects the proceedings of a colloquium organized by the European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht, deals with the issues of flexibility and legitimacy and how these have been addressed in the Treaty of Amsterdam. Besides a series of introductory papers by academics and representatives from the main EU institutions, the book pays particular attention to the specific challenges posed by flexibility and legitimacy in each of the three pillars of the Treaty on European Union.