Question

How large is the European Union constitution and what is its ratification status?  In terms of size how does this compare to the United States Constitution?

Answer 1

The Treaty was signed on 29 October 2004 by representatives of the then 25 member states of the European Union. It was later ratified by 18 member states, which included referendums endorsing it in Spain and Luxembourg. However, the rejection of the document by French and Dutch voters in May and June 2005 brought the ratification process to an end.

Following a period of reflection, the Treaty of Lisbon was created to replace the Constitutional Treaty. This contained many of the changes that were originally placed in the Constitutional Treaty but was formulated as amendments to the existing treaties. Signed on 13 December 2007, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009.

As we set out to celebrate Constitution Day on November 26 for the first time in more than six and a half decades let us have a look at how the Indian constitution fares when compared with other major constitutions across the world. This is usually a difficult task as constitutions vary substantially in their origin, age and their basic features. So much so that it can even be said that no two constitutions are alike.

However, despite such wide diversity attempts have been made to compare the constitutions of different countries in terms of their basic features. One of the most recent and extensive efforts that has attempted towards this end so far is the Comparative Constitutions Project (CCP) in collaboration with Google Ideas. The project makes a comparison of more than 190 constitutions against eight indicators.