Integrazione attraverso il mercato e declino dello Stato democratico: appunti per un’indagine genealogica

The article analyses some key moments of the path of European integration to understand the historical roots of the democratic deficit that characterizes the Union today. In particular, the text focuses on the foundational period and on the role that, in this situation, was played by the European Court of Justice and by some people of particular importance, such as the president of the first European Commission, Walter Hallstein. Subsequently, the text focuses on the strategic role assumed by the market in the integration process and underlines the circumstances which, starting from the second half of the Seventies, led community integration to be pursued more decisively than in in the previous twenty years.