Resumen:
The article discusses the legitimacy crises of the European Union (EU) following the Maastricht Treaty in the light of Weberian theory. First, the global and internal conditions in the 90s which shape the content of the Maastricht Treaty are briefly evaluated. After explaining how the ratification process of the Maastricht Treaty disclosed the legitimacy crises in the EU, the judgment of the German Federal Constitu- tional Court on Maastricht Treaty is analyzed with a special focus on supranational de- mocracy, legitimacy and common identity. The second half of the article starts with a methodological discussion about Weberian approach to the Union and attempts to show how the Union still suffers from the dilemmas of modernity. After a brief examination of the sources of legitimacy for the Community since 1957, the article focuses on the legitimacy problem revealed and aggravated by the Maastricht Treaty. The last section studies the 'common identity' within the context of legitimacy in a Weberian light, de- lineates different approaches in identity construction at the supranational level and ques- tions how and why the common identity project of the EU has failed.
