ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book attempts to make the language and thinking of 'constitutionalism' important to an understanding of the development of policy concerning internal security in the European Union's (EU's) area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ). At root the EU employs an understanding of security that is intended to offer the basis, or grounding, for the constitutional legitimacy of the activities of the AFSJ. The book explores a view of interpretation which draws heavily on the tradition of hermeneutics in the human sciences developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer in the 1960's. The relationship between learning, hermeneutics and constitutional life takes on an element of confrontation. Glancing at the principal features and innovations of the Lisbon Treaty it is impossible to neglect those aspects which appear to stem from a concern about the constitutional legitimacy of the European public sphere.
