A presentation of Europe Facing Federalism (L'Europe face au fédéralisme) by Michel Mouskhely (Mikheil Muskhelishvili), one of the creators of the legal basis of the European Union, was held at a conference at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. The regional representation of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) in the South Caucasus studied one of the first fundamental scientific works on European integration after World War II, created by Mikheil Muskhelishvili.

The 1949 publication is accompanied by a draft of a single European Constitution, the text of which reflects the definitions, visions and predictions of the legal and administrative structure of a future united Europe. A study of the publication “L’Europe face au fédéralisme” shows that Michel Mouskhely greatly influenced the political and scientific discussions about the future of Europe after World War II. The historic declaration of May 9, 1950 by former French Prime Minister Robert Schuman precisely captures the spirit of the European Constitution published by Michel Mouskhely in 1949 and the general approaches and goals toward European unification. 

“Mikheil Muskhelishvili is not well-known to the general public in Georgia, however, he made a significant contribution to the formation of the European Union. He is one of the architects of modern Europe’s constitutional and legal systems. He began working on these issues in the 1940s, and one of his earliest works, which first raised the issue of European unification, was published in the 1930s. Interest in Muskhelishvili is growing even more today, as Georgia strives for European integration,” said TSU Rector Jaba Samushia. According to him, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has repeatedly emphasized the importance of recognizing Mikheil Muskhelishvili’s contributions to the European community, including holding events and exhibitions dedicated to him.

In his work L'Europe face au fédéralisme, Michel Mouskhely thoroughly explains the theoretical and practical basis for the development of European supranationalism. He also shares his vision for the institutional structure of the European Union. He makes scientific predictions that were realized in practice in the following years with regard to the administration and legal structure of the European Union.

In his work, Michel Mouskhely precisely explains and predicts elements of the modern European Union's functioning, such as the separation of legal competences between the European Union and its members, legal arrangements within the European Union, democracy and fundamental freedoms, institutional arrangements within the European Union, and membership and withdrawal from the European Union. He also covers the status of member and associated states, a single European identity and citizenship, the European Union's diplomatic service and the functioning of diplomatic missions, the modalities of decision-making by consensus, the issue of granting legal entity status to the European Union, and the budget and monetary policy of the European Union.

“The work Europe Facing Federalism is notable in that it contains the first federal constitution of the European Union in its appendix. Its author is Michel Mouskhely. However, the work's main value is that, as early as 1949, Mouskhely meticulously described the modern European Union's legal and institutional aspects. He also described the various stages of the European Union's development, the problems that arose during these stages, and how to solve them,” noted Ioseb Nanobashvili, Head of the Regional Representation of the European Public Law Organization in the South Caucasus.

Mikheil Muskhelishvili is the author of more than one other important work on the organization of Europe, including “Confederation et Federation: L’antithese”; “Confederation ou Federation Europeenne?”; “Europa Aeterna”.

On December 13, 2022, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili awarded Mikheil Muskhelishvili the Order of Excellence in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the development and execution of the concept of the European Union, including the drafting of the first European constitution.