The book is edited by Gaspare M. Genna, Thomas O. Haakenson, and Ian W. Wilson.
About the book
The European Union entered into an economic crisis in late 2009 that was sparked by bank bailouts and led to large, unsustainable, sovereign debt. The crisis was European in scale, but hit some countries in the Eurozone harder than others. Despite the plethora of writings devoted to the economic crisis in Europe, present understandings of how the political decisions would influence the integration project continue to remain vague. What does it actually mean to be European? Is Europe still a collection of peoples that rallied together during good times and then retreat to nationalism when challenges appear? Or has Europe adopted a common identity that would foster solidarity during hard times?
The issue of effective and legitimate EU institutions
Erik O. Eriksen’s chapter, “On the pouvoir constituent of the European Union,” addresses the issue of effective and legitimate EU institutions. Habermas argues that it is time to develop transnational democracy through a democratic multilevel political order. Eriksen, however, asks if Habermas' model is a viable method to provide legitimacy. Eriksen argues that only a pouvoir constituent provides the proper legal system that can place the individual as the subject bearing rights.
Full info
On the pouvoir constituent of the European Union
Erik O. Eriksen
In: Jürgen Habermas and the European Economic Crisis - Cosmopolitanism Reconsidered
Gaspare Genna,Thomas Haakenson, Ian Wilson (eds)
Routledge, 2016
ISBN: 9781138185838