Standing before the second Lisbon decade: The legal discourse on the future of European integration

Approximately ten years after the Lisbon Treaty came into force, the debate on reforming the European Union has reached new heights. A decade of 'poly-crisis' has rattled long-held certitudes. At the same time, phenomena such as Brexit, a new European Commission, a new European Parliament, and potentially threatening extra-legal developments as diverse as authoritarian populism and climate change have culminated in a moment suggesting an indeterminate future from which much seems possible - even stasis. In the run-up to the next Lisbon decade, EU law scholarship, especially its German variant, must face up to the task of not only commenting on the development of Union law, but also of helping to shape it. However, before shooting aimlessly at amorphous clouds of ideas, it is certainly worthwhile considering the preconditions for reflecting upon the future of the European Union. This second order systematization can then be supplemented with substance by identifying structurally significant fields of reflection of relevance for the future of European integration.