European Interests and European Values: General Perspectives of Analysis or False Dichotomy?

Abstract

The article features the values of the European Union in the context of applying modern approaches to the study of integration associations. The analysis of the role of values in the policy of the European Union can be done in various ways. The historical and legal method shows the process of legal consolidation of the values and reflects the formation of the political subjectivity of the EU in the last 30 years. The starting point is the concept of shared heritage that demonstrates the main stages and tasks of European integration. The concept of acquis communautaire reaches its climax with the Treaty of Lisbon, and this was when the list of EU values became complete. The concept of the common heritage retains its legal meaning but transforms the goals into a discrete set of political values of the modern European Union. The present analysis of the social dimension of EU values was based on the Copenhagen School of Security. The analysis made it possible to identify the short-term values of modern European society through media monitoring and showed the specifics of European perception, e.g., the dominant importance of personal and political rights of citizens. The pandemic exacerbated the manifestation of these values within European society. Despite certain problems, the value dimension of EU policy is now complete and has become integral to European society and politics. The political component depends on specific interests, e.g., criteria for cooperation, membership conditions, interaction prospects, etc.