ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the European Union finds itself at the crossroads. On the one hand, the ambitious European project of ever closer collaboration has significantly advanced through the Eastern enlargement and the ever growing scope of economic integration. On the other hand, institutional and implementation deficits place serious barriers to further integration and raise, more urgently than before, the question of political integration – including its desirability and feasibility. The rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by the French and Dutch publics in 2005, as well as the ongoing budgetary crisis, testify to a serious legitimacy crisis. How can this crisis be overcome and where is or should the European Union be moving towards?
