Governing values, governing through values, governed by values? The European Union as a risk polity

Values at the core of European integration have been widely discussed in recent years due to several major evolutions in EU governance. The enlargements and the constitution-making process were structures of opportunities for claims to define common values susceptible to hold European countries and citizens together and to justify public action.

Nevertheless, resistances showed that interpretations of these common values may differ. References to values may have three incentives. Firstly, it may be a call to identity, memory and communicative resources in a quest for legitimization (governing through values). Secondly, it may come from the necessity to deal with ethical issues calling for normative policy choices (governing values). Thirdly, values may cause legal and political conflicts and challenge established balances of powers and regulation (governed by values).

Principal investigators: Ramona Coman - CEVIPOL IEE -, François Foret - CEVIPOL IEE -, François Heinderyckx - RESIC -


Spokesperson

François Foret
CEVIPOL, Faculty of Philosophy and social Sciences & Institute for European Studies (IEE)


Video (in French)

Dates
Created on August 31, 2018