TY - CHAP

T1 - Beware of disruptions

T2 - The Bundesverfassungsgericht as supporter of change and anchor of stability

AU - Mehde, Veith

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 selection and editorial matter, Zoltán Szente and Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz; individual chapters, the contributors.

PY - 2018/3/20

Y1 - 2018/3/20

N2 - Post-war Germany has been built on ruins: actual rubble as well as moral devastation and guilt. The war that Germany caused led to widespread destruction of its cities. After the war, a significant part of the population were refugees or displaced persons and an even larger part of the population had elected, supported or tolerated a system that caused a war and murdered millions of people. Under these circumstances, it can be considered extremely lucky - if only for the Western part of the country - that the Western allies not only were prepared to co-operate with the newly elected political leaders of the Federal Republic but - the United States in particular - actively helped to improve the economic situation. While the eastern part of Germany became part of the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union with a soviet-style political system, the strategy with regard to the Federal Republic was a firm integration of the country in the West on the basis of the democratic decisions of the citizens. European integration led to a situation in which a sovereign state had to cope with the fact that many decisions were taken at another level of government or, in other words, that in certain policy areas the role of the state institutions was reduced to taking part in the decision-making processes of the European Union. Nevertheless, the constitutional challenges in this respect were quickly accepted and the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) paved the way for the full integration into the European legal system.

AB - Post-war Germany has been built on ruins: actual rubble as well as moral devastation and guilt. The war that Germany caused led to widespread destruction of its cities. After the war, a significant part of the population were refugees or displaced persons and an even larger part of the population had elected, supported or tolerated a system that caused a war and murdered millions of people. Under these circumstances, it can be considered extremely lucky - if only for the Western part of the country - that the Western allies not only were prepared to co-operate with the newly elected political leaders of the Federal Republic but - the United States in particular - actively helped to improve the economic situation. While the eastern part of Germany became part of the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union with a soviet-style political system, the strategy with regard to the Federal Republic was a firm integration of the country in the West on the basis of the democratic decisions of the citizens. European integration led to a situation in which a sovereign state had to cope with the fact that many decisions were taken at another level of government or, in other words, that in certain policy areas the role of the state institutions was reduced to taking part in the decision-making processes of the European Union. Nevertheless, the constitutional challenges in this respect were quickly accepted and the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) paved the way for the full integration into the European legal system.

UR - http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315164632

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047214469&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Contribution to book/anthology

AN - SCOPUS:85047214469

SN - 9781138057890

SP - 53

EP - 71

BT - New Challenges to Constitutional Adjudication in Europe

PB - Taylor and Francis Inc.

CY - London

ER -