L’Europa dei tradimenti. Il cosmopolitismo normativo europeo sotto attacco

Abstract

The article aims to analyse the project of a cosmopolitan Europe and to show the validity not of its rejection, but rather, of its betrayal. My argument is that Europe has both historical and normative character-istics of a cosmopolitan kind. At the same time, Europe is also moving ‒due to the current economic-financial and immigration crisis ‒to-wards a cosmopolitanism of a different nature, which I call ‘market cosmopolitanism’, lacking any internal or external solidarity yet already embedded in the European Union constitutional project. In particular, I intend to develop the following three arguments: 1. that Europe can be considered a more specific historic space of potential affirmation of cosmopolitanism, resting on the principles and respect for the dignity of individuals and peoples; 2. that what I call the ‘normative cosmopol-itan’ project of Europe can be traced in the articles of the Constitu-tional Treaties and the Charter of the European fundamental rights; 3. finally, that the betrayal of the aimsof such project has been provoked by the alternative European project of ‘marketcosmopolitanism’.