European Legal Integration: Paradise Lost?

Abstract

At a time when the traditional conception of (European) law is under challenge and when an increasing number of ‘gaps’ exist between practices of informal ‘governance’ and the rigidly hierarchical conception of the law with its emphasis on formal law-making, do ‘law’ and ‘lawyers still have a significant role to play in the contemporary phase and form of European political integration? If so what type of role? And how does – and should – that role taking shape in an emerging political system?

Keywords: Legal integration, governance, European Union, transparency