Abstract:
This paper sets out to examine whether and on what basis it is possible to 'carry over'
the state constitutional tradition to the European Union context. It makes a case for a
context-transcending five-dimensional conception of constitutionalism, embracing legal
order, political system, self-authorization, societal integration and political reflexivity. it
argues that the EU presently possesses a truncated constitutionalism in which only the
first two dimensions are well-developed, and that its long-term legitimacy depends
upon the fuller development of the last three dimensions- whether or not in the form of
a documentary Constitution.
