| dc.description.abstract | The puzzle of my chapter is to explain an astonishing transformation of the European Union over the last 60 years. Faced with dramatic challenges in their international, economic, social, and political environment, the member states, as masters of the treaty, have taken considerable steps to widen, deepen, and broaden their common system. In an unconventional explanation, the chapter argues that the European Council, as the regular summit forum of national and European leaders, generally characterized as the apex of the intergovernmental nature of the EU’s architecture, has been the dynamic driver of this remarkable process. In analysing the specific functions of the European Council as the constitutional architect, I identify a typical four-step pattern in its power of transformation. The result is a fusion of intergovernmental and also strong supranational features which explains a considerable resilience to deep and varied crises. | en |