European Union - The Second Founding is a broadly structured study about the first 50 years of European integration, along with its geopolitical context and academic reflection. The book is based on the two-fold thesis that, for a few years, the European Union has been going through a process of its 'Second Founding, ' while simultaneously changing its rationale. The original founding of European integration in 1957 was based on the notion of internal reconciliation among European states and societies. Since the 1990s, European integration has increasingly become a political project with implications for the internal structure of its member states and their societies. At the same time, with the end of the Cold War, the rational of European integration has begun to change. European integration is about a new global role for Europe, its contribution to the management of global affairs, and its ability to cope with the effects of globalization on Europe. Inside the European Union, this Second Founding is about a new contract between political elites and the people of Europe in order to solidify legitimacy and effectiveness for this unique experiment in European history