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One of the main issues in the debate on urban constitutionalism is how constitutions can recognize the increasingly important role of cities in relation to the nation-state. This paper examines what we talk about when we talk about city autonomy. This is a pressing question, particularly in the context of European unitary states. This paper pays special attention to the context of two of such states, namely the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (especially England). First, it explores the notion of subsidiarity, which implies that consideration should be given to the distinctiveness of the city as regards the allocation of power to the central and regional levels respectively. However, this idea in itself cannot justify the case for city autonomy, as the claim that the attribution of autonomous powers to cities may improve the quality of decision-making in the state as a whole needs additional empirical evidence. Second, it investigates the concept of city autonomy by exploring the fuzziness of the notion of the city. In addition, it introduces the concept of 'spatial identities' in order to explain the interdependence of (large) cities and their surrounding (rural) areas. Lastly, it concludes that if the importance of cities as constitutional actors is to be increased, it should be done so in an informal way rather than by the introduction of formal constitutional arrangements both from a pragmatic and a normative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the different ways in which the EU dimension was contextualised in domestic politics in the 2005 Constitutional Treaty referendums in Spain, France and The Netherlands. It suggests that an ideationally based type of contextualisation dominated the Spanish referendum, in sharp contrast with the materially based mode that was dominant in France and The Netherlands. Variations in the ways in which the EU dimension was structured in domestic politics are largely accounted for by the interplay between the presence of an explicit anti-European agenda and government popularity. The paper shows that in Spain a popular government managed to keep control of the referendum debates, preventing anti-EU campaigners from gaining control of the debate and turning its focus from a symbolic pro-European discourse to materially based anti-European matters. By contrast, increasingly unpopular governments in France and The Netherlands were unable to keep the debate focused away from potential sources of material discontent. By focusing on the modes the EU dimension is framed in domestic politics, the paper aims at making a contribution to the literature on European referendums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2004 the Dutch Presidency of the EU hosted a successful informal ministerial meeting on territorial cohesion. The paper discusses the concept of territorial cohesion and how it could be invoked, among others in relation to the Lisbon Strategy of turning Europe into the most competitive region of sustainable growth globally. This is put against the backdrop of previous Dutch involvement in the preparation of the European Spatial Development Perspective. The paper documents the preparation of the meeting and reports on the meeting itself and the conclusions of the Dutch Presidency. The meeting has generated commitment on the part of various Member States holding the EU Presidency (some of them with a long-standing involvement in such issues) between how and 2007 to pursue a common political agenda in so doing, these Member States signal their insistence in taking an active part in the preparation of any future EU territorial cohesion policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period since the early 1990s has seen a marked shift in the terms of Dutch European discourse, as dramatically highlighted by the country's 'No' vote in its 2005 referendum on the European Constitutional Treaty. The present paper examines the trajectory of this discursive shift, suggesting that a traditional 'federalist' referential has been replaced by an elite discourse focused primarily on defining the 'limits of Europe' in intersecting substantive and geographical terms. A general framework for the understanding of national discourses of European integration is first set out, highlighting the key role played by national elites as mediators between the European and the national political systems. The Dutch case is then examined against this background, chronicling the general terms of the 'critical turn' in national European discourse, the 2005 referendum campaign, post-referendum party positioning and discussions surrounding the 2007 Reform Treaty. Despite the persistence of strong, underlying support for Dutch EU membership, it is finally argued that The Netherlands has not (as yet) found a stable, cohesive national narrative of its 'fit' and 'place' in the contemporary (post-enlargement) project of European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the affective states of fragmentation that describes the European Union following the Netherlands, France, and Ireland's national referendum. It examines the reactions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to the centrifugal judicial forces that menaces its interpretative monopoly. Furthermore, nature of a Constitution for Europe is discussed.

The present article explores how cycles are brought into being through the practices and affordances involved in period-tracking with apps. Based on thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with period-tracking app users living in the Netherlands, it expands on literature discussing the relationship between embodiment, apps, and quantification. Th e contributions of this article are two-fold. Theoretically, it argues for the use of Karen Barad’s notion of apparatus to understand how bodies are (re)configured in relation to self-tracking technologies (1998). Empirically, it exposes how bodies emerge in localized period-tracking practices, within material-semiotic arrangements that both resist and reproduce cultural ideals about menstruating bodies. Period-tracking with apps, this study finds, brings the body’s interior processes into being in a “systematic” way, (re)configuring the cycle as either a series of phases or an interval with a certain (normative) duration. In all cases, period tracking with apps becomes a means for users to access their internal body and to materialize the invisible processes of the cycle in ways that can be acted upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the Dutch courts in the protection of fundamental rights, focusing on the two contradictory elements of the Dutch constitutional law, the Article 130 of the Dutch Constitution (Grondwet) and the Article 94 of the Dutch Constitution. Topics include the genesis and characteristics of the system for fundamental rights protection, the case law of the Dutch Supreme Court, and the European Convention on Human Right (ECHR).

In the spring of 2005, the European Union was plunged into a state of crisis when two of the Union's founding members (France and the Netherlands) rejected the proposed EU Constitution in two separate referendums. In this article, it is argued that the 'no' votes in both countries, despite the support of mainstream political elites and the bulk of the media, should not be viewed with surprise. The article begins by examining the background debate to the referendums in both countries before considering the major issues that dominated the 'no' campaigns as well as the issues that motivated the two countries' electorates in their decisions to reject the EU Constitution. From here, the article examines the significance of the 2005 'no' votes in the current context within France and the Netherlands and argues that the clear polarization of the 'no' vote among those from socio-economically less well-off backgrounds is not only the sign of a further widening of the gap between mainstream political elites and their supporters with regard to European integration, but that in turn it is also having a significant impact at a party level in terms of the galvanization of Eurosceptic political parties - particularly the radical right. The article concludes with the argument that 2005 has contributed to the growing salience of Euroscepticism within both countries, which in the context of the crisis in the eurozone is likely to lead to further re-evaluation of the European project among political elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of establishing a constitution for Europe came to an end when voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the proposal. Analyzing both media coverage and survey data, this article seeks to disentangle the reasons why a majority of voters rejected the European Constitution. The authors’ findings suggest that the campaign played an important role in priming certain attitudes and that vote choices, in turn, were driven by specific issue concerns rather than general dissatisfaction with the European Union or national governments. These findings have implications not only for our understanding of direct democracy in Europe but also for the study of campaign effects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The construction of imaginings of 'Europe' is increasingly closely intertwined with the institutions of the European Union (EU). Constitutional reform of the EU is therefore a crucial moment in the production and reproduction of European imaginaries and requires a cultural geography analysis of the public debates surrounding it and the resulting voting patterns. French and Dutch citizens, in referenda on 29 May and 1 June 2005 respectively, rejected the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This article examines the highly contested visions of political elites and citizens in these two countries to explore how Europe is imagined and re-imagined in a period of rapid territorial and institutional change encompassing both the widening and the deepening of the EU. It focuses on two dimensions of integration: widening (ie. enlargement) and deepening (ie. institutional reforms towards more integration) and the associated visions of 'Europe' and 'European-ness.' Questions addressed include “who belongs to Europe and who does not?” (with regard to widening), and “what belongs to European competencies and what should be done nationally or locally?” (with regard to deepening). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since time immemorial, the inviolability of the home has protected people's freedom to behave as they like in their own homes. In addition, bodily integrity is an essential fundamental right allowing citizens to do what they want with their own body. Technological developments in ICT and DNA research form a threat to these fundamental rights that current legal protection may be inadequate to stop. An increasing number of technologies are being used in the home and in the bodies of individuals, connecting them to the outside, which means that the traditional border between inside and outside is becoming blurred. Furthermore, more and more possibilities are emerging that allow us to 'see' things inside, straight through walls and clothing. What effect will these technologies have on the legal protection of home and body - in particular the protection against government surveillance? In this article, the authors analyse these issues from the perspective of the Dutch Constitution to illustrate how the current legal protection of home and body threatens to fall short in light of new technologies. This analysis of the Dutch situation may be useful for other countries when they review constitutional rights in light of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the European Constitution Project after it was rejected in a popular referenda. Although the project was not abandoned, it was placed in a state of suspension to allow a period of reflection for a year before any further decision or action is taken. Fourteen of the 25 member states of the European Union have ratified the project which includes Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece and Hungary. It was rejected by France and the Netherlands. Since France and the Netherlands were two of the founding members of the European Union, their no vote alone placed the project in its current state.

The article examines the agenda for the future structure and direction of the European Union. France and the Netherlands voted against the European constitution project in 2005. But this does not mean the Union will be reduced to a state of political crisis. Constitutional treaties can be calculated in both material and symbolic terms and social effects in terms of political morality. The Amsterdam and Nice treaty left unfinished institutional business in the face of the pending European Union enlargement.

The article reports that although the European constitution project was rejected, Europe has long since had a constitution in the European treaties. In May and June 2005, France and the Netherlands citizens decided to vote against the proposed constitution. Several reasons why the European treaties represent a constitution for the Union is cited. The European treaties from Rome to Nice constitutionalize a union of democratic legal communities, not an arbitrary hereditary monarchy. These treaties though, are not an egalitarian constitution for the citizenry of Europe.

The article examines the 2005 rejection of the European Constitution Project in a referenda held in France and the Netherlands. For those who voted against the project, it was an awareness that the European Union's free market system was not favoring Europe's middles and working classes. The perception was that Europe's elites were using EU policies to destroy national welfare systems, privatize public services and weaken regulatory devices. The approval of the constitution would have accelerated enlargement of the Union to include Turkey.

The French and Dutch rejection of the proposed EU Constitution in May 2005 threw the European Union into what many observers regard as its deepest crisis to date. This crisis can also be seen as a unique opportunity for political, economic and institutional renewal, however. The following article outlines the problems presently facing Europe and discusses what changes would have to be made in the EU system of governance in order to overcome them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects on the seeming inattention of the world outside the European Union to the negative results of the referendum conducted by France and the Netherlands on the proposed European Constitution. The indifference of nations like Israel may be indicate that institutionalized Europe has moved beyond the objective of its formation and must now address the social question, which has been the core conflict of most of Europe's nation states since the 19th century. The no vote has sent a signal to the European political elites relaying anger about an unknown and socially risky future.

In the aftermath of the rejection of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in referendums in France and the Netherlands this article analyses the complex messages delivered by the voters and evaluates key elements of the Constitution from the perspective of European Union (EU) employment law. On the basis of this evaluation the author seeks to establish whether there is anything worth salvaging from the wreckage of the Constitution and, if so, to identify the main priorities in the area of EU employment law and the means to make progress by amending the Treaties or otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the theological education in universities in 19th century Netherlands. Impact of the introduction of the duplex ordo system on the Dutch Reformed Church; Relation between the church and faculties of theology; Effects of the Dutch liberal constitution on the relation between the state and the church.

The article reflects on the negative results of the French and Dutch referenda on the treaty establishing a European Constitution. It is speculated that the negative outcome may precipitate a political crisis within the European Union (EU). The exercise is deemed to be similar to the regular activities of the European Union, including the generation of new policies and the passage of laws, which have not resulted in a political crisis. A documentary constitution was not immediately necessary to the EU and therefore did not cause anything that could escalate into a crisis.