EU Values Contested

Abstract

This panel explores how core values of the European Union, such as equality, dignity, bodily autonomy, and non-discrimination, are increasingly contested, reinterpreted, or undermined in contemporary governance and policymaking. Bringing together perspectives from citizenship studies, LGBTQ+ politics, feminist and queer theory, and legal and institutional analysis, the panel examines the shifting terrain of what counts as “European values” and who is able to claim them. The contributions reveal how the politics of citizenship, gender identity, and LGBTQ+ rights expose deeper tensions within the EU’s normative project. From debates over the biopolitics of citizenship transmission and the implications of GDPR for gender identity rights to the making of LGBTIQ+ equality policies within the European Commission, the panel traces how institutional actors negotiate competing claims to rights and recognition. At the same time, feminist and queer critiques highlight the limits of EU value rhetoric, particularly when harmful practices such as conversion therapy remain insufficiently addressed. Together, these analyses demonstrate that EU values are neither fixed nor universally upheld but actively contested across legal, political, and social arenas.

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