Since its inception around 60 years ago, the European Union and its law have been one of the most dynamic laboratories for the development of supranational law and a harbinger for trends in international law. More still, the European Union has also proven to be a fertile ground for so-called ‘ essentially oxymoronic concepts ’ , namely the rhetorical figures of oxymoron and paradox. As rooted in its etymological origin, ‘ oxymoron ’ is an oxymoron itself, because it combines, in one word, the Greek words ‘ oxus ’ , meaning ‘ sharp or pointed ’ and ‘ moros ’ , meaning ‘ dull or foolish ’. Thus, usually an oxymoron appears in only one word, whereas ‘ paradox ’ expresses a similar contradiction in more than just one or two words, as in the phrase ‘ I know that I know nothing ’ attributed to Socrates. Both types of concepts share that they carry in essence the idea of an apparent contradiction between antagonistic concepts.