The European question is an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the nation-state. This reflection springs from fundamental issues such as: "What is it that makes individuals come together as a people?" That being established, we do not ask: "What are the conditions necessary for individuals to become a nation?" But building a nation is one way of forming a people. It is that classic—or classical-modern—route which at the same time defines the role or principal functions of a modern state.