Dilemmas on the European Constitution

In this paper, the author discusses the dilemmas associated with the role of the European Constitution in the further development of the Union. Analysing the implications of the rejection of the European Constitution by the referenda in France and the Netherlands, the author sets forth arguments why such decisions should be neither overrated nor underrated. Aiming to broaden the basis for understanding the European constitutional crisis, the author further discusses the categories of state, constitution and nation. Scrutiny into these categories, he argues, is a crucial prerequisite for understanding the sources of dilemmas regarding the European Constitution and for further development of the EU political syste