Andras Mohay (X) Dec 4, 2006:

Συμφωνώ απολύτως. Από χθες φιλοξενούμε σε επίσημη επίσκεψη την Πρόεδρο της Βουλής των Ελλήνων και στο κεφάλαιο "Συνταγματική Συνθήκη" αυτό ακριβώς το νόημα έχει η αναφορά στον χρόνο: τραινάρισμα, αδικαιολόγητη καθυστέρηση κά.

Dylan Edwards (asker) Dec 4, 2006:

... time is running out ... it's taking too long ... These were the vague ideas that came to mind. Thank you, Andras, for confirming my impression that it's something to do with the timing. I think the idea is that there's too much delay in ratifying the constitution or generally putting it into effect.

Andras Mohay (X) Dec 3, 2006:

I think you are right. Perhaps "the time limit to ratify the Constitution"

Dylan Edwards (asker) Dec 3, 2006:

έωλη την αφή Perhaps συνταγματικού χρόνου should be understood in conjunction with έωλη την αφή and in the context of the article as a whole. The article is about the process of "constitutionalising" the EU - basically saying that συνταγματοποίηση is taking too long or is being undertaken in the wrong way. In other words, I suspect this is a special, non-standard use of συνταγματικού χρόνου. (Note: I have quoted the opening sentences of the article, and the term συνταγματικός χρόνος does not appear anywhere else in the article).

Dylan Edwards (asker) Dec 2, 2006:

συνταγματικού χρόνου Thanks for the answers. The constitutional term, or time given by the constitution: it's perfectly logical to assume it means one of these, but it's quite difficult to fit either one of these meanings into the context.