European Parliament Elections 2014: Europe's Fateful Choices; EJIL and ESIL; In this Issue

After many "ostrich years" the European head is out of the sand: there really is a problem with the legitimacy - or rather, the perception of legitimacy - of the European construct. It is not a mere "bee in the bonnet" of some irritating academics disconnected from reality. Eurobarometer indications are at their lowest and the results of a highly respected Pew Center survey, too, show a remarkable fall in support for Europe among its citizens. Political differences on how to tackle the Euro crisis are, worryingly, both reflective and constitutive of what one may call a solidarity deficit.Even if the EU manages to make substantive and substantial strides in the construction of the much vaunted Banking Union after the German domestic elections in the autumn, it is not expected that any of the above will change significantly.