Citizens should vote on secession

Arbeitspapier

The draft treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union states that each member state may withdraw from the European Union following its own constitutional requirements. We argue that such a rule could lead into an increased use of threat of withdrawal to extract concessions in intergovernmental negotiations. This problem would be exacerbated by national electorates facing an incentive to elect more confrontational politicians. We also suggest a remedy: EU constitution should require that withdrawal from EU membership must be approved by the voters of the withdrawing member state in a referendum.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ETLA Discussion Papers ; No. 939

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism; Secession ; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior ; Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Subject: Federalism ; secession ; the European Union ; referendum ; Federalismi ; Euroopan Unioni ; kansanäänestys ; Mitgliedschaft ; Europäische Integration ; Separatismus ; Referendum ; Public Choice ; EU-Staaten

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Eerola, Essi ; Määttänen, Niku ; Poutvaara, Panu
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2004

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/63670
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET