Though heated, recent debate on the German Federal Court's 'Maastricht' judgment may be argued to have overlooked one of the primary problems posed by European integration: the lack of new concepts to describe the emerging supranational order. The following argues that a discussion which on the one hand has overstressed the significance of nationalism, and which on the other continues to seek a 'normative' basis for a collective European order, has failed to pay due regard to the practicalfunctional elements of historical nation-state building. Further, such analyses have failed to recognise that traditional, hierarchical, centralised and unitary states have long been transformed 'from within' through a process of pluralisation and fragmentation. Accordingly, the 'network-concept' is tested here not only for its viability as a basis for a new conceptualisation of a supranationality which is characterised by heterarchical and decentralised relationships, but also for its relevance for the re-conceptualisation of the political and legal structures of the traditional nation-state.

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Due to the Europeanisation of law, and the constitutionalisation of the European Union in particular, the Habermas argument seems to be quite appealing to many. Globalisation is interpreted as having curbed the State's capability to impose norms on the transnational process of expanding markets. This evolution seems to have not only reduced the action potential of the State but, at the same time and even more importantly, it also has reduced the value of citizenship. Citizenship can no longer be the core element of the relationship between the individual and the State in the postmodern society. It cannot be constituted via a direct relationship with the State, which at the same time constitutes the realm of deliberation because the diffuse networks of transnational inter-relationships beyond the State cannot be reflected by the process of public deliberation. The space of the State is, on the one hand, too small. On the other hand, it may appear to be too big. Against this background Europe cannot be regarded as the bearer of the European acquis étatique (the acquired state).

Kritik der Abwägung in der GrundrechtsdogmatikPlädoyer für eine Erneuerung der liberalen Grundrechtstheorie [A Critique of »Balancing« in the Dogmatics of Fundamental Rights. A Plea for a Renewal of the Liberal Theory of Fundamental Rights.] 2004. 83 pages. BOrd 170