The Declaration of Laeken in December 2001 established a Convention as a framework for dialogue on the Constitution of the European Union, the work of which will be concluded by an Intergovernmental Conference in 2004. As a response to the challenges set by the work of the Convention, the Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS) at the European University Institute (EUI) has convened a Working Group which is constituted by Professors from all Departments of the EUI in order to draw on its existing research base which has a distinctive interdisciplinary profile based on policy relevant, systematic and rigorous academic work, as its response to Joshka Fischer’s speech at the Humboldt University, Berlin illustrates (C. Joerges/ Y. Mény/ J.H.H. Weiler (eds.) What Kind of Constitution for What Kind of Polity? Responses to Joschka Fischer, RSC 2000: http://www.iue.it/RSC/symposium/).

Indeed, the RSCAS has a respected track record in advising the policy-making community, and has prior experience of research on the core issues identified for the Convention Policy (see, for example, the selection of papers as part of the RSCAS’s ‘Series on Constitutional Reform of the European Union’ reproduced at http://www.iue.it/RSC/EU/). Its work on the reorganisation of the European Treaties is a case in point (‘A Basic Treaty for the European Union - A Study of the Reorganisation of the Treaties’. The Report can be downloaded from the RSCAS website at http://www.iue.it/RSC/Research.html).

The role of the Working Group is to stimulate further high quality work in this field, to develop collaboration with others, both within and outwith the academic community and to contribute to the debate in and around the Convention as a whole. The Working Group generally meets on Tuesdays, thus sometimes occupying the RSCAS Tuesday lunch time seminar slots, and co-opts participants which include Professors, Jean Monnet Fellows and Visiting Fellows from the RSCAS and the Departments of the EUI according to the relevance of their expertise. Participants to the Working Group meetings also include doctoral researchers from the EUI, some of whom, have set up a Researcher Working Group, details of which can be found at: http://conventionwatch.iue.it.

The Working Group is supervised by a steering committee which is composed of Helen Wallace, Bruno de Witte and Miriam Aziz. For further information concerning the activities of the Working Group, please contact miriam.aziz@iue.it.