ABSTRACT
The impressive literature agonising over the question of whether or not the European Union 'does have' a constitution, or whether it should have a 'better' one, illustrates, at the level of law and legal discourse, that the European Community has, via monetary union, undergone a metamorphosis from common market to a political union, and raises the question of its constitutional foundation. The constitutional question is clearly pertinent from the perspective of constitutional theory and doctrine because the answer, whether positive or negative, as well as a qualified argument for a constitution sui generis, will have considerable consequences for legal decision-making within, and legal reasoning about, the EU. Any modern constitution, and therefore a 'European Constitution', has to address the double task that modern societies are confronted with the foundation of legitimate authority and the problem of social integration. Within the context of archetypes or models, the constitutional question may be given more precision but cannot be solved.
