Accommodating Diversity in Multilevel Constitutional Orders Legal Mechanisms of Divergence and Convergence Comparative Constitutional Change Series

This book offers insights into the legal mechanisms that are adopted in multilevel constitutional orders to accommodate the tension between contrasting interests of diversity and unity and the converging or diverging effects they may have on the functioning of a multilevel constitutional order. It does so by targeting mainly the European experience but also drawing insights from other jurisdictions.

The volume draws on a well-rounded theoretical framework that allows a comprehensive discussion of the dialectics in multi-level systems.) It focuses on two of the most relevant areas of constitutional law, namely the setup of supranational institutions and the protection of fundamental human rights. Finally, the work presents a fresh legal take on the unity-diversity dichotomy.

This collection is ideal for academics working in the fields of constitutional law, international law, federal theory, institutional design, management and accommodation of diversity, and protection of fundamental rights. Political scientists will also find the discussions very relevant as a foundation for further research in their field. Policymakers involved in constitutional engineering will be interested, as mechanisms of accommodation, convergence, and divergence are increasingly looked at as devices for managing multilevel polities.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Bruno De Witte

Section I: Theoretical Approaches

Chapter 1

Introduction: The Dialectics in Multilevel Systems - Mechanisms of Divergence and Convergence

Marjan Kos, Jaka Kukavica, and Maja Sahadžić

Chapter 2

The Idea of ‘Interlegal Balancing’ in Multilevel Settings

Gabriel Encinas

Chapter 3

Non-Hierarchical Coordination Of Multi-Level Asymmetries for (Dynamic) Stability

Finding the Balance Between Convergence and Divergence

Maja Sahadžić

Chapter 4

Constitutional Diversity and Differentiation in the EU: What Role for National Constitutional Demands under EU law?

Marjan Kos

Section II: Mechanisms in Constitutional and Human Rights Law

Chapter 5

Between unity and diversity: EU data protection legislation as a catalyst for a constitutional trilogue

Pieter Aertgeerts

Chapter 6

Forgetting Identity Claims

The New Constitutional Paradigm in Multilevel Fundamental Rights Standards

Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff

Chapter 7

Convergence and Divergence in EU External Action: The Very Slowly Emergent Doctrine of Shared Competence

Thomas Verellen

Chapter 8

A Convergence Movement Between the European Union's Economic Constitution and National Economic Constitutions - Lessons from the Portuguese Case

Pedro Coutinho

Chapter 9

Towards a General Typology of Consensus Analysis: From Entrenching Divergence to Constituting Convergence

Jaka Kukavica

Section III: Institutional Mechanisms

Chapter 10

Convergence, Divergence and Strategic Interactions Of International Courts: Lessons from the Protection of Business Premises for Legal Persons in Europe

Audrey M. Plan

Chapter 11

Converging on Structures – The Influence of Court-Structure on Convergence and Divergence among Judges

Alexander Lazović

Chapter 12

Multilevel Governance in the EU Through Deliberative Democracy: Zooming into the Mechanism of the European Citizens’ Initiative

Agata Magdalena Poznańska

Chapter 13

EU law’s Contribution in Streamlining Member State Enforcement Structures: A Promising Mechanism for Convergence?

Pieter Van Cleynenbreugel

Chapter 14

Conclusion: Oscillating Between Unity and Diversity

Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff and Julian Scholtes

Maja Sahadžić, Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and Visiting Professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Marjan Kos, PhD Candidate and Teaching Assistant, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Law, Slovenia.

Jaka Kukavica, Ph.D. Researcher, European University Institute, Italy, and Junior Lecturer, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Jakob Gašperin Wischhoff, PhD Candidate and DynamInt Research Fellow at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.

Julian Scholtes, Lecturer in Public Law, University of Glasgow School of Law, Scotland, United Kingdom.