Cover -- Title page -- Copyright -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- Solving the EU Conundrum -- Beyond the Westphalian System of International Relations -- Act of Abjuration -- A New Era in Political History -- Towards a New Vocabulary -- Spinelli and Huizinga: Divergent Godfathers of European Integration -- Curbing Absolute Sovereignty -- The Kantian Dilemma of Statehood and International Law -- The Conference on the Future of Europe -- From Union of Democratic States… -- …to Democratic Regional Organisation -- Messages of Hope -- EU: Association of States or European Democracy? -- In Memory of Thomas Mann -- The Democratic Deficit and the Original Sin of the European Union -- A New Kind of International Organisation -- Europe and Democracy -- The Delors Enigma -- What Is the European Union? -- BREXIT -- The Conference on the Future of Europe -- Replacing the Westphalian System -- The Theory of Democratic Integration -- A Citizens' Story of Europe -- The European Model of Transnational Governance -- Conceptual Suggestions -- Conclusion -- ECJ President Rings Alarm Bells over Rule of Law -- What Is the EU? -- As Old as Methuselah -- A New Kind of International Organisation -- Replacing the Westphalian System -- Institutional Backing -- The Legal Identity of the European Union -- The Core of the Treaties -- What Is the European Union? -- Neither State Nor Union of States -- Terra Incognita -- Democracy and the Rule of Law -- Why Bother? -- Conclusion -- EU Court of Justice Closes Democratic Deficit -- Democratic Visions -- The Westphalian System of International Relations -- The Citizens' Perspective -- The Return to Westphalia -- The Core of the Conditionality Verdicts -- Conclusion -- The Dutch Detour: The Steep Road from Maastricht to Amsterdam -- Europe 1992 -- Changes of Direction -- The Copenhagen Criteria -- The Treaty of Amsterdam.

Towards a New Model of Transnational Governance -- Amsterdam as Cradle of European Democracy -- The Democratisation of the European Union -- The Nature of the Beast -- The Conditionality Mechanism Verdicts of 16 February 2022 -- The Westphalian System of International Relations -- The Council of Europe as a Union of States -- Stages towards Ever Closer Union -- The Theory of Democratic Integration -- Exploring the Terra Incognita -- Upgrading EU Citizenship Education -- In Limbo -- European Democracy -- Democratic Citizenship Education -- Conclusion -- Emulating the Westphalian System -- Revolutionary Breakthrough -- European Democracy -- Beyond Westphalia -- World Peace -- Why the EU Is Not an Empire -- The Originality of the EU as a Regional Democracy of States and Citizens -- The Nature of the Beast -- The Conditionality Mechanism Verdicts of 16 February 2022 -- The Westphalian System of International Relations -- Beyond Westphalia -- The Theory of Democratic Integration -- Implications for Foreign Affairs and Global Governance -- The Identification of the EU as a New Kind of International Organisation -- Neither State…. -- …nor Union of States -- Absolute Sovereignty Destroys Absolutely -- Changing Paradigms -- The Novelty of the EU -- A Union of States and Citizens -- A Bird's Eye View -- A Democratic International Organisation -- Practical Suggestions -- Conclusion -- A New Vocabulary for a New EU Convention -- What Type of Democracy? -- Ever Closer Union -- Beyond the Conundrum -- Preparing for the 2024 Elections for the European Parliament -- A New Vocabulary for the Union -- Concise Bibliography -- Author Information -- Endnotes.