ABSTRACT
Dieter Grimm's option seems to suggest that the constitutional status quo can at least freeze the extant democratic deficit. From a constitutional perspective, one may discern a contradiction in the European Union's (EU) present situation. In contrast with the Federalists, who recommend a democratic pattern for the EU, Grimm warns against any further European-law-induced eroding of national competences. New political institutions such as a European Parliament with the usual powers, a government formed out of the Commission, a Second Chamber replacing the Council, and a European Court of Justice with expanded competences, as such offer no solutions. The ethical-political self-understanding of citizens in a democratic community must not be taken as an historical-cultural a priori that makes democratic will-formation possible, but rather as the flowing contents of a circulatory process that is generated through the legal institutionalisation of citizens' communication.
