1. Universidad de Zaragoza. Research for this paper is supported by the CIDEL Project (Citizenship and democratic legitimacy in the EU) funded by the V Framework Programme of the EU (Contract No HSPECT-2002-00144) and the projectPolitica Constitucional de la Union Europea, financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (MCYT) SEC2003-00253. I am particularly indebted for the comments on earlier drafts of this paper received from Erik Eriksen, John Erik Fossum, Agustin Menendez, and Julio Baquero.
2. References to the Convention draft are made to the last available, published on 18 July 2003, CONV 850/03.
3. E. O. Erikssen and J. E. Fossum, 'Europe in search of its legitimacy. Assessing strategies of legitimation'. Paper submitted to the CIDEL Conference, 'The Forging of Deliberative Supranationalism in the EU', Florence, 7-8 February 2003.
4. For a critical view of this position, see J. H. H. Weiler (2004) Human rights, constitutionalism and integration: iconography and fetishism, in E. O. Eriksen, J. E. Fossum and A. Menendez (eds)Developing a Constitution for Europe(Routledge, 2004). A first formulation of this position in relation with the Charter is that of A. E. Stie (2002) 'Preconditions for democracy: national identity versus constitutional patriotism', ARENA Report No. 9/2002, at 10 and 135.
5. Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union