ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to contribute to the development of a new historical underpinning of the European Union and its future prospects. It demonstrates that the debate on a European democracy in many respects can be interpreted in terms of hypocrisy. The idea of a European democracy, implicit in the notion of a European identity, was now transferred into a new semantic field around the market concept. The market would more or less automatically lead to a European democracy with European citizens as its carriers. The Maastricht Treaty on European Union from February 1992 was signed in this time of hubris and dramatically changing interpretive frameworks. As in the globalization narrative, the implicit assumption was that democracy would emerge automatically with the market development and with the expression of interest by the European citizens.
