The Crisis of the European Union (PDF)

Translated by Ciaran Cronin.

In the midst of the current crisis that is threatening to derail
the historical project of European unification, Jürgen
Habermas has been one of the most perceptive critics of the
ineffectual and evasive responses to the global financial crisis,
especially by the German political class. This extended essay on
the constitution for Europe represents Habermas's
constructive engagement with the European project at a time when
the crisis of the eurozone is threatening the very existence of the
European Union. There is a growing realization that the European
treaty needs to be revised in order to deal with the structural
defects of monetary union, but a clear perspective for the future
is missing. Drawing on his analysis of European unification as a
process in which international treaties have progressively taken on
features of a democratic constitution, Habermas explains why the
current proposals to transform the system of European governance
into one of executive federalism is a mistake. His central argument
is that the European project must realize its democratic potential
by evolving from an international into a cosmopolitan community.
The opening essay on the role played by the concept of human
dignity in the genealogy of human rights in the modern era throws
further important light on the philosophical foundations of
Habermas's theory of how democratic political institutions
can be extended beyond the level of nation-states.

Now that the question of Europe and its future is once again at the
centre of public debate, this important intervention by one of the
greatest thinkers of our time will be of interest to a wide
readership.