Abstract

This paper sketches a historical and analytical framework for the interpretation of the process of European integration. The chosen approach tries to relate the European regional integration to the processes of nation states formation and consolidation. The latter completed the process of European territorial differentiation of the Middle Ages common heritage based on Christian cultural identity, Latin high-language and culture, and Roman public law, Germanic common law, and Church Canon law. European integration is interpreted as a new phase of development of the European system of nation-states characterised by an uneven process of territorial de-differentiation, which generates tensions due to the decoupling of the formerly territorially overlapping principles of identity, solidarity and legitimised decision rules within the nation state.