With the Convention on the Future of the European Union (EU) now in progress, it is opportune to examine the processes and forces currently shaping the EU's constitutional development and impacting on governmental arrangements. For some time, debate on the constitutionalization of the EU has focused on whether the EU needs a constitution and, if so, what kind of constitution. It is argued that analysis of these core issues cannot be conducted in isolation from the processes and forces currently shaping the EU, chief among which are micro-regionalization, Europeanization and globalization. Moreover, a comprehensive understanding of the nature and degree of interaction between these processes and forces is required to inform theory and guide constitutional practice.