Conference Paper

In the past two decades the member states of the European Union have undergone a process of transformation leading to a gradual relinquishing of attributes of sovereignty to the organs of the Union. The content of citizenship, traditionally the basic mark of the political nation has also been changed. The main question addressed by the text is: what happens with the basic components of the nation, both political and cultural, if the dismantling of the nation-state continues? The reflection is reduced here to some questions related to territory, language, ethnicity, genealogy, and the fate and vocation of the nation in a historical perspective. Can a supranational integration deal with these elements as the nation-state does, channeling and moderating towards the common good their distinctive and potentially explosive political potentials? The democratic nationstate, among others through the rule of law, has been able to rationally limit potential excesses of popular sovereignty. Will the deepening integration within Europe lead to a super-state, a federation, as many claim, or to something else? This is open to speculation, but the survival of the basic components of the nation on a longer term seems almost sure.