ABSTRACT
The European Union is a puzzle for political scientists. It is an elusive thing, escaping classification: neither a federation nor a confederation (whatever the difference between both may be),’ neither (solely) territorially nor sectorally defined; nor is it a mere (cooperative) addition of states. Above all ~ and so far there seems to be unanimity among scholars - it is no ‘state’, nor will it ever be one. Instead the EU qualifies as something suigeneti, a multi-level and ‘multiperspectival polity’ (Ruggie 1993: 172) and as such a ‘post modern’ entity (Ruggie 1993, Diez 1995).
