A Composite European Constitution

In this inaugural address the author discusses the nature of the European constitutional order, understood as the sum total of national constitutions and the EU constitutional order. He points out some of the shortcomings of describing this as a 'multilevel' constitutional order, which hinges on ideas of the autonomy and separateness of the various constitutional orders. In this respect thinking in 'levels' is a symptom of hierarchical structures, which cannot adequately explain the present constitutional arrangement in Europe. Instead of this, he argues for understanding the European constitu.