""The European integration process is grinding a common legacy of European democracies, viz their commitment to welfarism and social justice. The institutional background of this development is a decoupling of the European "economic constitution" from the "social constitutions" which remained national domains. The important strands of legal integration theory mirror this fragmentation. What seemed acceptable in the foundational period - the age of "embedded liberalism" - is becoming ever more problematic. Neither can legal integration theories cope with Europe's "social deficit" nor are there chances for a reconstitution of the welfare state at European level. The alternative constitutional perspective which the paper advocates is the reconceptualisation of European law as a new type of conflicts law. This concept defends the co-originality of economic liberties and political rights of Europe's citizens. It defends "the social" in Europe not by the imposition of legal uniformity but by the respect for political autonomy and the toleration of diversity.""

Support: Paper