Abstract
On February 27-28, 1998, the Center on European Union Law of the Fordham Law School was pleased to present a program, “The European Union and the United States: Constitutional Systems in Evolution,” intended to provide a clear description of the impact of the Treaty of Amsterdam upon the European Union (or “EU”), and to enable some valuable points of comparison and contrast between constitutional and legal developments within the European Union and the United States. This symposium issue of the Fordham International Law Journal publishes a series of papers presented at the conference centering on the Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on October 2, 1997, and scheduled for complete ratification and entry into effect in 1999. All of the articles were written by present or former officials of institutions of the European Union who either participated in the preparation of the text of the Treaty of Amsterdam or are well-suited to analyze it. Let me now make a few remarks situating the Treaty of Amsterdam within the context of the constitutional evolution of the European Union. Not only is the study of the European Union one of the greatest practical importance, in view of its major political and economic role on the world stage, but also it is fascinating and rather elusive. The historical development of the European Union is complex, representing a gradual expansion in scope and power through a number of stages, each of which in turn is rather complicated and hard to assess.
Recommended Citation
Roger J. Goebel,
The Treaty of Amsterdam in Historical Perspective: Introduction to the Symposium,
22 Fordham Int'l L.J. S7
(1998).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol22/iss6/2