IntheFaceofCrisis—.PDFVIP

In the Face of Crisis— Input Legitimacy, Output Legitimacy and the Political Messianism of European Integration Joseph H. H. Weiler  I Prologue Beauty is famously, or infamously, in the eyes of the beholder. For some, Maastricht was finally the ushering forth of “real” Euro- pean Integration. No longer merely the marketplace, but veritable eco- nomic and monetary union, the upgrading of the European Parliament (finally democracy!), human rights and the environment in the Treaty expresis verbis with the expectation of more than mere words to come, and European citizenship, no less. Even the old-fashioned “Community” was upgraded to First with a term redolent with gravitas: “Union.” For others Maastricht was a shill game, smoke and mirrors: A half-baked monetary union (“What will they do when the first asymmet- ric shock hits?” Marty Feldstein of Harvard warned at the time), an ever yawning democracy “deficit” with the power shift to the EU not matched by veritable accountability and citizen impact, a vacuous concept of citi- zenship, with no duties and empty rights and an abandonment of the original and humane concept of Community for the hackneyed Union, a term recently vacated by the Soviets. Citizens, let us remind ourselves “were not amused.” Maastricht was greeted by the typical indifference with which the elite driven Euro- pean construct was habitually met. Those who took an interest—the Danes and the French in whose countries commendably citizens were  Joseph H. H. Weiler is Joseph Straus Professor of Law and European Union Jean Monnet Chair at New York University Law School and President of the European University Institute in