The EU scepticism in the Nordic countries is doubtlessly related to conceptions of democracy. However, the hypothesis of this article is that the EU scepticism and scepticism towards judicial review in the EU are particularly generated by the distinction between the national and the supranational rather than the distinction between the judicial and the legislative/executive powers. The article maps three narratives on democracy – a narrative on democracy as “Nordic democracy, on democracy as “separation of powers” and on democracy as “dialogue” – and analyzes their inferences for the desirability and practicability of European integration and judicial review in the EU.

Keywords: conceptual history, narratives, democracy, democratization, EU politics, European Union (EU), European integration, judicial review.