ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the findings with regard to advancing the conceptual debate on the relation between the EU and its citizens. It is first highlighted how especially the unexpected findings derived from the interpretative analysis were the decisive and innovative ones in the research. Second, it is illustrated that the students depicted a highly politicised detailed image of the European Union (EU) as a “Normative Power Europe 2.0”, i.e. a EU that is a fully developed polity, a democracy, marked by the values defined in article 2 Treaty on European Union (TEU), and on this basis acts as a full-fledged actor in the world. This indicates that EU politicisation also regards the character of the EU as a polity, not only certain policies and conflicts. Third, the three gaps found in the course of the research are resumed—a democracy gap, conflicts between states, and gaps between citizens. A fourth gap is added: A politicisation gap that refers to the students’ passive attitude. Fourth, on the basis of the research findings, conceptual reflections with regard to citizenship in the EU, politicisation, and Euroscepticism are outlined. The chapter concludes on two typologies: One of the student relations to the EU and one of democracy in the EU.
