Open Access

Jürgen Habermas

• Se estudia el rol que una Constitución Europea puede desempeñar en la integración de Europa. Luego de considerar las razones que motivaron la integración, el artículo sugiere que el interese económicos, que ha sido motivación poderosa, no será suficiente para asegurar un proyecto de verdadera unión política. Las emociones, más que los intereses, habrán de movilizar a los europeos; ellas unen a las personas para defender su modo de vida contra el tipo de sociedad que tienden a imponer los modelos económicos dominantes. Tres elementos son importantes para la integración: un Parlamento de Estrasburgo fuerte y público, una esfera pública europea, y una cultura política común.
• In this article, Jürgen Habermas addresses the role a European Constitution can play in the process of European integration. After considering the reasons that motivated integration, the author suggests that economic interest, which has been a powerful reason, will not be sufficient to mobilize political support for the project of a true political union. What can mobilize Europeans, Habermas says, is appealing to emotions rather than interests, and this could be done by gathering people to defend their way of life from the kind of society that is promoted by dominant economic models. A constitutional debate, aroused by a popular referendum, could seize the imagination of Europeans and give a cultural thrust to integration. Habermas presents the Eurosceptic argument that a European Constitution would not work because «there is as yet no European people,» and refutes this argument by distinguishing between a «nation of citizens» and an ethnic «nation of the people.» He finishes with three elements that are important for integration: a strong European Parliament, a European public sphere, and a shared political culture.