“State Aesthetics” of the European Union and Its Legal Implications: Selected Aspects on the Example of the Constitution for Europe

The European Union—in legal terms—remains an international organization. Its specific features, however, distinguish it from other entities of that kind and constitute its so-called supranational character. This, in turn, constantly provokes discussion on the direction of the EU’s further development, its final shape and its closeness to a federation (or a state of a different form or a “superstate”). In this context, the functioning within the EU of institutions commonly perceived as the European government (Commission) or parliament, the nature of the EU legal acts or the EU currency combined with a set of symbols (flag, anthem) seem to constitute a kind of aesthetics of the European Union. An aesthetic that clearly remains close to the “aesthetics of the state”. This contribution aims to show that the treaty-sanctioned “state” aesthetics of the European Union may be considered as an important factor defining its perception by the public and have important consequences from the perspective of the development of EU law and the Union itself. Presented considerations oscillate around the thesis that aesthetics of the Union that has been established in the Constitution for Europe was close to “state aesthetics” which had certain influence on the perception of the EU by Europeans and, consequently, on the result of ratification process of the CfE’s as a revision treaty (fiasco). First, elements of legal and purely symbolic nature associated in a public awareness with a “state” will be defined as constituent elements for the state aesthetics. Secondly, a question of the elements of state aesthetics that can be identified in relation to the Union will be answered. Finally, an attempt will be made to establish in what way state aesthetics of the EU might have fit into the catalogue of reasons for CfE rejection in referendums in France and in Netherlands. The reflections will be based on the experience of the Constitution for Europe and the process of its ratification. This analysis will essentially focus on the legal aspects, leaving aside—too broad for the framework of this paper—the problem of using state elements in the Union aesthetics in a strictly political discourse and the effects of such measures on broadly understood social attitudes towards the Union.