The European Union has been in the midst of legitimacy crisis for several years. The author of the article diagnoses difficulties connected with the scientific analysis of this issue, indicating its causes, which arise from discrepancies in the definition bases, which constitute the initial assumptions for the research conducted so far. The article proposes new approaches, points out the current theoretical perspectives of the research and the resulting possibilities of overcoming the legitimacy crisis of the European Union. It also proposes to anticipate models for the legitimacy of the European Union on the basis of a synthesis of existing ones. The article diagnoses the causes for the difficulties, in search for an antidote for the European Union’s legitimacy crisis.