The constitutional order of the EU has been already approached by a number of different constitutional schools. This panel tries to test the epistemic value of a rather neglected notion in EU studies such as that of the material constitution by focusing on two inquiries: (1) whether the EU has a constitutional structure that qualifies as its material constitution and (2) how the use of the notion of the material constitution might shed a different light on the constitutional developments of the EU. The panel will tackle in particular with the question of the impact of the new economic governance on the EU social market and on the limits of the notion of the material constitution for understanding the EU and other legal orders.