In a groundbreaking study published in 1950, Carl Schmitt highlighted the specific characteristics of European jurisprudence (Europäische Rechtswissenschaft), arguing that before the outbreak of World War I a common legal civilisation had existed in Europe of which little was left in the contemporary epoch. Armin von Bogdandy has recently taken up that evaluation, praising on his part the “autonomy” of legal concepts and institutions as the foundation of every legal order. He believes that the fragmentary ideas expressed by Schmitt can also be usefully resorted to within in the European integration process. [---]